Profile: Who Is Vincent Joseph McCauley The First Bishop Of Fort-Portal?

By Clare Nayebare.

Early life.

Joseph Vincent McCauley being the eldest of six children, was born in council Bluffs Lowa, to Charles McCauley and Mary Wick ham.Their family prayed a rosary daily.His father was a member of the knights of Columbus, and his mother active in the altar guild and various prayer circles which assisted McCauley in his later missionary efforts during troubled periods of great depression and world war II

McCauley attended Creighton preparatory school and later joined the congregation of holy cross and studied at the University of Notre Dame & holy cross foreign Mission seminary in Washington DC.

He was ordained a priest on June 24, 1934 and served as a missionary in Bengal East Pakistan from 1936 until 1944 but returned to the united States due to I’ll health. From 1945 until 1958, he was served in the US as a direction of the holy cross mission society and superior of holy cross mission seminary.

Mission to Africa: 1958–1961

At the request of holy see and Msgr. Jean Marie Ogez Bishop of Mbarara, Father McCauley and Fr Anold fell off the holy cross Father’s visited Tooro to study the possibility of the congregation helping in the work of church within the kingdoms of Bunyoro and Tooro.This was followed by Fr McCauley’s report” Unless something changes our impression,this is a great opportunity for Holy cross”.

The present diocese of and Hoima makeup about one half of the territory which belonged to the diocese of Mbarara untill 1961 shortly after the Holy cross religious had arrived. They arrived in Entebbe International Airport on November 4,1958.Holy cross served in Northern portion of the diocese in and around Fort-Portal and after three years of settling, establishing institutions and growth in the region, Holy cross and McCauley were poised to take a further step in autonomy with establishment of Roman Catholic diocese in Fort-portal.

On 21 Feb,1961 Rome elected the diocese of Fort-Portal,and Fr McCauley was appointed Bishop.On April 19 1961 there was official election of diocese in a ceremony at Virika, and on may 21 1961 Bishop McCauley was consecrated at sacred Heart church University of Notre Dame, Indiana.

1963, Bishop Joseph Vincent McCauley was the organizer and chairman of the Uganda Joint Christian Council and in 1963, He was the first chairman of the Tooro Joint Welfare Advisory Council.

In 1963 He was elected chairman of the AMECEA(Association of Members of Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa) an association of episcopal conference members and also worked for common interests through cooperation and collaboration.Bishop McCauley went ahead and guided Bishops to present a voice at Vatican II and rescued the organization’s finances as well.He also established the GABA Pastoral Institute for the formation of Catechists.

In 1962-1965, He attended the Vatican council and was a member from East Africa on the Pan Africa Episcopal conference.He served as a delegate from East Africa on the world council of Bishops at the council.

In 1963,He was instrumental in bringing the medical mission sisters and ladies of Mary to help in the work of the diocese.

Under Bishop McCauley, several new parishes were opened,a better understanding of local and community problems especially in social and medical fields and the study of methods to cope with these challenges.

On March 20,1966 Bishop McCauley visited Bugombwa Parish at Bundibugyo Bwamba, when the earthquake occurred(the worst hit area of the earthquake) where he looked after the needs of the victims ,then drove to Fort-Portal to continue his efforts in helping people of the diocese during the crisis.He was instrumental in also seeking for aid over the destroyed lives and buildings including the cathedral by seeking financial help in the US and later a new current church  Virika cathedral was constructed.

His chairmanship ended in1973, and He replaced Flynn as a secretary general and left Fort-Portal to Nairobi to concentrate on the new responsibilities assigned to him.

His death.

Bishop McCauley suffered from facial skin cancer for much of his adult life. In all, he had more than fifty surgeries. As he grew older, additional health concerns emerged. In September 1976, a plastic aorta was inserted into his heart at the Mayo Clinic. Beginning in July 1982, he began to suffer acute pulmonary hemorrhages. In October 1982, he returned to the U.S. for treatment. After a particularly severe hemorrhage, aware of the risks, McCauley undertook exploratory surgery and died while undergoing the surgery on November 1, 1982. On November 4, 1982, McCauley was buried in the Holy Cross community cemetery at Notre Dame.[1]: 333

In August 2006, the cause for canonization of Bishop McCauley, C.S.C. was introduced in the Congregation of Saints. As “Servant of God” Bishop McCauley’s is continuing to be reviewed by the Diocese of Fort Portal.