Wokorach: New shepherd of Nebbi Catholic Diocese

As an altar boy regularly serving a Comboni missionary in Arua District, his heart was directed towards the same calling.
Rev Fr Raphael p’Omony Wokorach knew what he wanted to do then. He had watched Fr John Troy preach eloquently, and admired his lifestyle, which inspired  him to join priesthood.
“My desire to join priesthood started when I was an altar boy. John Troy was so eloquent, lively in the local language. He preached about eternal life. In my mind it was like priests don’t die. So it attracted me to join seminary,” Rev Fr Wokorach recalls.
With support from his family, Rev Fr Wokorach was nurtured spiritually until he completed his primary education before joining seminary to pursue his dream.
He later become a Comboni missionary, like his model, and is now set to become the bishop of Nebbi Catholic Diocese.
Apostolic Nunciature announced his appointment on March 31, but due to Covid-19 restrictions, his consecration was pushed to August 14.
Born on January 21, 1961 in Ragem Village in Ewuata, Arua District, the bishop-elect joined St Peter and Paul Pokea Minor Seminary, where he said his beliefs were deepened.
“The initial trigger was shallow but in seminary, my thinking deepened and I got inspired by the good examples of work of Comboni missionaries in our area,” Rev Fr Wokorach said in a recent interview.
One of his old boys, who is also the diocesan pastoral coordinator, the Rev Fr Emmanuel Ocokuru, described the bishop-elect as a committed man who was working towards nurturing the younger generation into priesthood.
“He was one of my best friends. He is always full of joy and is sociable. He is a principled man who never wants his programmes to fail. We (the priests) are ready to work and be obedient to him so that we make the diocese grow,” the Rev Fr Ocokuru said on Friday.
Mr Bruno Ozunga, a parishioner at Nebbi Cathedral, who also knew Fr Wokorach closely, said: “He is a humble and intelligent man. The Lord has answered our prayers and Christians must show their love and unity to the new bishop so that he can steer us to development.”
The faithful in Arua Diocese, where Fr Wokorach’s home village is, were elated when they heard that a son of the soil would become a bishop.
“This good news hovered over the hills of Ediofe shortly after finishing our Mass in Ediofe Cathedral. We cannot but profoundly dance in our hearts. The bishop-elect is our own, a Christian of St Andrew Small Christian Community under St Mary Assumpta Catholic Parish-Ragem. He celebrated Mass with us as a priest two weeks ago. To God be the glory,” Fr Robert Jungeyo, the parish priest for St Mary Assumpta, said.
Rev Fr Wokorach compares his appointment to that of biblical Abraham and Mother Mary because this will be the first time he is serving in his home country.
“Since my ordination as a priest 28 years ago, I was never given chance to work in Uganda. So I am coming back as a bishop and it is like Abraham who went to a place he didn’t know like Mother Mary who accepted the task in a surprise. And wherever I worked like in Congo, Togo, Kenya, USA and Rome, there were a lot of challenges of security, poverty with sadness in the face of people. This built my conviction,” he said.
He was nicknamed ninja by his fellow priests and seminarians because he could push them to do work and succeed in life.
Even when he received the news, the priest was in the chapel praying.
“When the news came, there was some level of unpreparedness. It came with a sense of confusion and surprise. I asked God that is it true, why is it coming now. I got lost. I faced myself with God. It is an experience that is not ordinary but it made me deepen my commitment and dedication to God,” he said.
Fr Wokorach advised priests to do work with zeal, maturity, without fear, with joy, and with good quality like the great witnesses of the church like St John Paul II, St Paul, St Francis of Assisi, among others, despite challenges.
Diocese created
Pope John Paul II created the diocese on February 23, 1996 under the patronage of Immaculate Heart of Mary. Bishop John Baptist Odama became the first caretaker on May 26, 1996 until 1999.
The seat fell vacant on November 23, 2018 when Bishop Sanctus Lino Wanok was transferred to Lira Diocese after retirement of Bishop Joseph Franzeli.
Consequently, on February 11, 2019, the College of Consultors of Nebbi Catholic Diocese, elected Rev Fr Emmanuel Odaga as the diocesan administrator to temporarily lead the diocese.

EDUCATION, WORK
After studies at Ragem Primary School, Wokorach joined St. Peter and Paul, Minor Seminar Pokea in Arua Diocese from 1975-1979. In 1980-1982, he went St. Joseph College Ombaci, Arua, for Advanced Secondary School certificate.
In 1983-1987, he joined the Comboni postulancy and studied Philosophy at Uganda Martyrs’ National Major Seminary in Alokolum, Gulu-Uganda, where he obtained a BA degree in Philosophy from the Pontifical Urbaniana University.
In 1988-1989, he did the novitiate of the Comboni Missionaries in Tartar, Kenya and in Kampala.
In 1989-1993 he studied Theology in Tangaza College, Nairobi-Kenya. In 1994, he obtained Master degree in Philosophy at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), Nairobi, Kenya. His thesis title is: “The Good-for-man as a principle of Moral Character in Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.”
In 2000-2001, he pursued course for Formators at the Salesian Pontifical University, Rome.  He took first religious profession on April 29, 1989 and the perpetual vows on October 12, 1992. He was ordained priest on September 25, 1993 at Wadelai Parish-Nebbi diocese by the Bishop Martin Luluga (now Emeritus).
Ministries and offices held
In 1993-1994, the Bishop-elect was a member of the Ugandan province while pursuing his Master’s programme in Philosophy in CUEA.
From 1994 to 2001, he travelled to Kisangani, DR Congo and served as Curate in a parish for a couple of years and later appointed as Formator in the Postulancy for candidates to the priesthood.
He was then transferred to work in Lome, Togo from 2001-2003 as Formator at the Brothers ’Postulancy.
And from 2003-2007, he was transferred to Chicago, USA, as Formator in the Theologate. From 2007-2015 he was taken to serve in Nairobi, Kenya, as Formator in the Theologate and lecturer at Tangaza University College where he served as Chair of the Governing Council of the College.
At the same time, he served as Vice Provincial of the Kenyan Province from 2011-2013.
From 2015-2018 he was appointed as Apostolic Visitator for the Institute of the Apostles of Jesus. On June 21, 2018, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life appointed him Pontifical Commissary for the same Institute of the Apostles of Jesus.
FACTS ON NEBBI CATHOLIC DIOCESE
Number of Catholics- 528,178
Parishes- 19
69- Diocesan Priests
Catechists- 997
Major Seminarians- 41
Minor Seminarians- 20
(Source: Nebbi Catholic diocese as of 2021)