Emmanuel Wamala

Emmanuel Wamala (born 15 December 1926) is a Ugandan Catholic prelate who served as the Archbishop of Kampala from 1990 to 2006. He was made a cardinal in 1994.

Background and education Wamala was born on 15 December 1926 in Kamaggwa Village, Lwaggulwe Parish, in Masaka District, Uganda. He attended elementary school in Kalisizo for four years, before he entered the Bukalasa National Minor Seminary in 1942. After seven years in Bukalasa, he attended the Katigondo National Major Seminary from 1949 to 1955. He obtained a Bachelor of Theology. In September 1956, he was sent to Rome for further study at the Pontifical Urban University, where he obtained a Licentiate in Theology. From 1962 to 1964 he took a course in pedagogy at Makerere University, graduating with a diploma in the subject. Later, he took further educational courses in the United States.

Priesthood Wamala was ordained a deacon on 15 August 1957 in Rome. He was ordained priest, on 21 December 1957, in the chapel of the Pontifical Collegio Urbaniano, Rome, by Archbishop Pietro Sigismondi, Titular Archbishop of Neapolis in Pisidia. In the same ceremony Stephen Fumio Hamao, future cardinal, was also ordained priest.

He returned to Uganda in 1960 and was appointed to various roles including:

Cardinal Wamala is a Patron of the African Prisons Project, an international non-governmental organisation with a mission to bring dignity and hope to men, women and children in African prisons through health, education, justice and reintegration. Archbishop Emmanuel Wamala was the President of the Episcopal Conference of Uganda from 1986 until 1994. He was also the President of the Uganda Joint Christian Council. Archbishop Wamala became the first Rector of the Uganda Martyrs University, officially opened on 18 October 1993.

He retired as Archbishop of Kampala, on 19 August 2006 and lives on as Archbishop Emeritus of Kampala.

Retirement On 19th August 2006, Emmanuel Wamala retired as Archbishop of Kampala after reaching the canonical retirement age for diocesan Bishops. His resignation was accepted by Pope Benedict XIV, and he was succeeded by Cyprian Kizito Lwanga as Archbishop of Kampala. Following his retirement, wamala assumed the title Archbishop Emeritus of Kampala and has continued to participate in selected ecclesiastical events and pastoral activities.

Although he ceased the day-to-day administration of archdiocese, he remained a member of the college of Cardinals, having participated in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI. Upon reaching the age of 80 in December 2006, he lost the right to vote in future papal conclaves, in accordance with canon law. He has since resided at the priests centre in Nsambya, Kampala.