Deepl Translation
Mechernich – In fact, Patrick Mwanguhya knew only two German words at the time: ‘Guten Morgen’. At any rate, that was what the young priest from Uganda replied to his bishop when the latter suddenly asked him during the coronavirus pandemic whether he spoke German. Could he learn the language? Patrick said yes. A few days later, he was sitting in the bishop’s office – and heard in detail for the first time about the Communio in Christo in Mechernich.
Five years later, it was clearly difficult for him to say goodbye to the place. Members and friends of Communio, staff from the social welfare organisation, nuns, priests and companions bid farewell to the priest, who was born in Fort Portal in 1986, on Friday evening, 21 August, at the motherhouse. A new chapter begins for him on 1 September: his home diocesan bishop, Robert Muhiirwa, is sending him to a smaller parish in the Diocese of Regensburg near Straubing.
The farewell took place as part of the Communio gathering to mark the 49th anniversary of Mother Marie Thérèse’s founding of the order. Following the Rosary and the celebration of the Eucharist, there was a communal dinner, words of thanks, singing and dancing. Patrick himself presided at the altar as the principal celebrant.
Among those concelebrating with him were Spiritual Director Father Rudolf Ammann ISch, Parish Priest Dr Shaji Thomas Manikulam, Father Elex Normil of the Scalabrini Order (originally from Haiti), Salesian Father Günther Wendel, Father Bedemore Okwudili Ezeagu from Nigeria, Father Subin, who has been seconded to Communio for a year from Trivandrum in Kerala, and Deacon Manfred Lang, the deputy to the Superior General, Jaison Thazhathil, who is currently in India. Erik Pühringer, Senior Vicar of the St Barbara Mechernich Pastoral Area, also took part in the celebration.
Ordained in Uganda in 2018
Patrick Mwanguhya comes from Fort Portal in western Uganda and was ordained a priest in 2018 at the ‘Our Lady of the Snows’ Cathedral by the then Diocesan Bishop Robert Muhiirwa Akiiki. The ties between his diocese and Communio had already grown strong by that time. Bishop Robert Muhiirwa had become acquainted with the Mechernich community and, in particular, its commitment to the sick, those in need of care and the dying.
When Communio was looking for a priest for pastoral care of the sick in 2021, Patrick was chosen. He has now recounted for himself just how surprising this turn of events was for the young priest. He had been at his parish at the time and was about to say the Angelus when the telephone rang.
On the morning of 15 October 2021, Patrick arrived in Mechernich. Edo Dijkstra collected him from Euskirchen station, and Sister Lidwina welcomed him at the motherhouse. However, his start was not exactly communal: Due to the Covid-19 regulations, the newcomer first had to spend seven days in quarantine in his room.
And then there was the German mineral water. Patrick wasn’t familiar with sparkling water. As he recounted amid much laughter, at the first sip he ran to the washbasin and spat it out again. He thought someone had accidentally given him ‘some other substance’.
His German course began on 25 October. He admitted that, in the first week, he hadn’t understood “absolutely nothing” of what the teacher said. At the same time, he was already beginning to celebrate Mass with the community. Sister Lidwina helped him with the readings and sermons and prepared with him for visits to residents and patients.
Chaplain in the care homes
This became his main role. For five years, Patrick served primarily as a chaplain to people in the care homes run by the Communio Social Welfare Organisation – in the long-term care facility in Mechernich, at the Stella Maris hospice and at ‘Haus Effata’, the care home for the elderly in Blankenheim. In addition, he conducted church services, held conversations and visited the sick and the dying.
At the farewell gathering, Sister Theresia particularly recalled his “loving care for the sick”, his empathy and his ability to meet people where they were. Edo and Marie-Thérèse Dijkstra recounted how Patrick had stood by Edo during his serious illness in 2023.
The Indian sisters, too, described him almost unanimously as “humble, modest, courteous, helpful, friendly, humorous and, last but not least, engaging”. Sister Helene and Sister Maria summed it up more succinctly: “Father Patrick is simply one of us.”
Patrick himself referred to the people with whom he lived at the motherhouse as his “true inner community”. To Sister Lidwina, Sister Theresia, the priests Shaji and Subin, Sister Shelly, Sister Maria, Sister Helene, the Samaritan Sisters and the Dijkstra family, he said: “You are wonderful people and have shaped my life.”
In the parishes too
After the Rosary and Mass, there was a communal dinner, followed by the tributes – first a message of greeting from Deacon Manni Lang, also on behalf of the Superior General, Father Jaison; then Father Ammann; the communal blessing song; Norbert Arnold on behalf of the institutions; Andrea Heide on behalf of the care staff; Sister Lidwina on behalf of the community, presenting a cookbook and an apron; followed by an African dance and, finally, Patrick himself with his words of thanks.
The Ugandan-born Patrick’s sphere of influence in Mechernich was not limited to the Communio motherhouse. Patrick also helped out in the St Barbara Mechernich pastoral area, whose parish priest, Erik Pühringer, had also come to bid him farewell.
He celebrated Masses in the parishes, took part in pilgrimages and church festivals, attended the St George’s Ride in Kallmuth, Good Friday and pilgrimage days, stood in for Father Felix Dörpinghaus and blessed the St Barbara stele in Kallmuth. In 2025, he accompanied the joint pilgrimage to Rome organised by Communio and the Pastoral Area during the Holy Year and celebrated the daily pilgrim Masses there.
Within the Ordo, too, he evidently took on an increasingly central role. In 2024, he travelled with a Communio delegation to visit the Polish members in Kraków and Częstochowa; at services at the Mother House, he regularly appeared alongside Superior General Jaison Thazhathil. Thus, over time, the Ugandan guest priest became a familiar face even beyond the Communio community.
Deacon Manfred Lang, Deputy Superior General, recalled during the secular celebration that five years can ‘turn a guest into a housemate, a housemate into a trusted friend, and a stranger into a friend’. Patrick is a “Homo sympathicus”, a ray of sunshine whose laughter is infectious – and at the same time a pastor who makes no great fuss about himself, but simply is there for people.
Thanks to many companions
In his own farewell speech, Patrick made it clear just how much these years had shaped him. He began by thanking God and Mother Marie Therese, who had fostered a community within Communio where people were welcome and where love and care for one’s neighbour were central.
Patrick described the former Superior General, Karl-Heinz Haus – whom he had known for only three months after his arrival from Africa – as his friend. Despite his pain, Haus had radiated a deep-rooted love for God and for his neighbour.
Father Ammann thanked Patrick for his “profound spiritual influence”. He paid tribute to Managing Director Norbert Arnold for his professionalism and discipline in managing the administration and running the facilities. He also expressed his gratitude to the care staff in Mechernich and Blankenheim, his “bosses” Sonja Plönnes, Franziska Geist and Andrea Heide, as well as to numerous families and friends.
The Superior General, Father Jaison Thazhathil, who is currently in India, sent his regards. He had also come up with the idea for one of the farewell gifts: as Patrick would, for the first time, be relying more heavily on running his own household, the community presented him with a cookbook – along with an apron bearing the inscription ‘Head Chef Fr Patrick’. Sister Lidwina presented both items amidst much laughter.
African, German and Indian sisters and other guests danced, whilst others sang a blessing song for Patrick together. In between, there was much laughter and applause. It was not a quiet farewell, but one in which gratitude, wistfulness and the universality of the Church were closely intertwined.
Patrick Mwanguhya was born in 1986 in Fort Portal, Uganda, and comes from a family of seven children in total; he has six siblings. His parents are Augustine Kasaija and Janerose Kusemeriwa. His aunt, Sr Revocata Bujune, was a nun. Patrick ultimately summed up his five years in Mechernich in just a few words: the whole Communio family and their friends would ‘always be in my heart’ .
Now his bishop is sending him on his way. His agreed term of service with Communio has come to an end. On 1 September, he will take up his new post in the Diocese of Regensburg. He asked his former companions to pray for him as he prepares for what lies ahead there.
One thing, at any rate, should be easier for him in Bavaria than it was when he first arrived in Mechernich: he is now familiar with sparkling water. “He’ll have to get used to larger beer mugs in future,” joked Managing Director Norbert Arnold, himself a native Bavarian from Würzburg. According to Father Patrick, he already had his first taste of this at the Gäubodenfest in August – one of Bavaria’s biggest folk festivals, held in Straubing.
pp/ProfiPress Agency
