In his small Ugandan village, Father Paul Kkonde and his family didn’t have electricity, a car, or running water – but they did have a deep faith that fueled their lives.
It fueled their mile-long walk to church each Sunday. It fueled his sister’s path to becoming a nun. It fueled his father’s work to build a chapel in their small village. It fueled his mother’s prayer group and adoration of Mary.
It has also fueled Father Kkonde’s life as a priest. Ordained 25 years ago, Fr. Kkonde celebrated his silver anniversary of pastoral ministry on July 25.
His family also experienced much heartbreak, including the loss of Father Kkonde’s father and seven of his eleven siblings to violence and illness, but his mother never lost faith in the face of tragedy. “My mother, being a devoted Catholic, helped me to learn a lot, to acquire knowledge about the faith,” Father Kkonde said.
“She never lost hope and continued going to church until September of 2018, when she passed on,” he added. “Her commitment strengthened me and had a great impact in my decision to become a priest.”
Doing God’s work
Father Kkonde first started hearing the call to join the priesthood when he was just eight years old. He attended a large party celebrating the first priest to be ordained from his village, and the spirit of the jubilation stayed with him.
Father Kkonde had seen firsthand the work the Catholic Church was doing in Africa. Priests visited villagers in their homes, bringing rosaries and prayer books, checking on the sick and elderly, and teaching the young children about God. He wanted to be part of that work.
When a high school seminary opened in his diocese in 1984, Father Kkonde quickly joined it. He studied for 14 years, finally becoming a priest in 1998. “The day I became a priest, my mother asked me for a blessing,” he recalled. “That was such a powerful moment for me.”
Father Kkonde eventually traveled to the United States in 2005, where he earned a master’s degree in spirituality and pastoral care from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. “I never dreamt of coming to the USA. It was a surprise and a gift I hold highly because I have met people who love me dearly. People have made me feel at home,” he said.
Connecting kids with God
Father Kkonde said a pivotal moment in his life was attending World Youth Day in 2000 in Rome. He said he was moved by seeing so many young people from all over the world coming together – connected not by language or nationality – but by faith and love.
(Photo/Kathleen Wood)
Pope John Paull II was leading the Church at the time, and Father Kkonde saw how much young people adored him. “I asked one of them why they love Pope John Paul II; his response was because the pope loves them – genuinely.”
Father Kkonde has since worked to genuinely love the youth he meets and earn their love in return.
He has served as pastor or parochial vicar at several churches in the Diocese of Richmond. He has ministered from Roanoke to Richmond, Powhatan to Buckingham, and many places in between. For the past two years, he has been the parochial vicar of St. Edward the Confessor in Richmond. He is also the chaplain for The Blessed Sacrament Huguenot School, a post he relishes.
“I love being with the young people because they are the future of the Church,” he said. “I feel like we need to give them time and attention to learn from us and embrace our faith.”
He recalled how his father often quizzed him and his siblings on the week’s Gospel readings and homilies, making sure they were paying attention during Mass and feeling connected to God. Just as his parents and the priests in Uganda nurtured his relationship with God, he wants to do the same for the children in his community.
Tracy Hamner, Head of School for Blessed Sacrament Huguenot, said, “When Father Paul gets the opportunity to celebrate Mass with the school or interact with the students, you can truly see that his heart is that of a teacher. The smile on his face shows that he truly cares about the students and their education.”
Deacon Kevin Hogan, who has served at St. Edward the Confessor since 2012, echoed Hamner’s sentiment, stating, “The kids flock to him. He seems to be someone who’s open and truly wants to know them, and kids pick up on that.”
At St. Edward the Confessor, Father Kkonde works to connect with each parishioner, no matter their age. He believes visiting and ministering to the elderly is as important as nourishing the youth.
“I like sharing stories and learning of their lives. With older people, many don’t have many visitors, and they miss their families,” he explained. “I think that is important work, to let them know someone cares for them.”
Deacon Hogan acknowledges that sometimes Father Kkonde’s accent can be a hurdle, but that the priest more than makes up for it with his wide smile and positive attitude. “He’s a happy guy,” he said. “He’s very earnest and he doesn’t have any agenda. He just listens.”
Connecting continents
Since Father Kkonde joined the Diocese of Richmond, other priests from his former Diocese of Kiyinda-Mityana in Uganda have followed.
One of them is Father Michael Mugomba, who first met Father Kkonde decades ago when Father Kkonde was a child and Father Mugomba was a young priest, often giving advice and guidance to the seminarian.
“I have seen some unique qualities in the life and ministry of Father Paul [Kkonde]. I can describe him as simple, prayerful, and content with what he is and has. He always gives respect and space to others,” he said.
Father Mugomba described Father Kkonde as a “pioneer priest,” saying he was instrumental in building the relationship between these two dioceses which has resulted in several priests moving to the United States and serving in Richmond. He believes both dioceses can learn from each other to benefit the universal Church.
Though there is a decline in the number of practicing Catholics in the United States and Western Europe, Africa has seen a rise in members of the faith. Father Kkonde believes this is because of the powerful presence of the Church in many facets of African life.
“I think in the western world people seem to have almost everything they want in life and aren’t thinking much about God. There’s so much technology to distract them. In Uganda, they don’t have that,” he said.
“In Uganda, the Catholics have the best schools and best hospitals and do the most work in the community. People flock to the Church because they realize the goodness they have in the Catholic Church,” said the priest.
He would like to see an increase in similar Catholic outreach programs in the United States to help bring people back to the Church. St. Edward the Confessor is active in many service programs, such as refugee resettlement, youth mentorship, food and clothes donations, and prison ministry.
Father Kkonde prays the rosary every day, just like his mother did. His favorite passage from the Bible is Jeremiah 29:11: “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for peace, not for woe, to give you a future and a hope.”
So far, these plans have sent Father Kkonde from Uganda to Italy to the United States. He’s crossed continents and cultural barriers. His faith gave Father Kkonde and his family a future and a hope, and he has dedicated a quarter-century of his life to doing the same for others.
Read about other priests in the Diocese of Richmond who are celebrating anniversaries this year: