The Catholic Evangelization of this area was started in 1891 by the White Fathers. Three Phases can be identified within this process.
The first phase is between 1891 and 1939. The pillar of this phase was Archbishop H. Streicher. Phase two, 1939 –1961, began the establishment of Masaka as a distinct ecclesiastical territory under its first African Bishop Joseph Kiwanuka. Phase three, 1961 the dawn of national independence, which coincided with the beginning of Bishop Adrian Ddungu’s episcopate and the introduction of Church Renewal by Vatican II. Adrian Kivumbi Ddungu was appointed Bishop of Masaka on 11th November, 1961, ordained Bishop on 18th March, 1962 at Bukalasa Seminary, retired on 10th January, 1998, and he died on 30th December 2009.
He was then succeeded by Bishop John Baptist Kaggwa who was appointed the Ordinary Bishop of Masaka Diocese on 10th January 1998, enthroned on 22nd March 1998 at Villa Maria Parish. He died on 20th January 2020.
