Upper Delta News

As early as primary school, Polycarp Ssebbowa knew he wanted to become a priest. He mentioned that inkling to his pastor, who became his mentor. He fulfilled his wish on Aug. 15, 1997, when he was ordained a priest in his native Uganda.

Next month, he will celebrate the 25th anniversary.

“I was in second grade, still a child,” he said. “My vocation came early. I went to my pastor who was very kind and good humored. I needed to be like him. That was the beginning. I went to him at Eastertime and said, ‘I want to be a priest.’ He said, ‘Well, Polycarp, be a good altar server, study hard at school and get good marks and be disciplined.’ I went back to him every year at Easter for a review.”

Raised by a Catholic father and a mother who converted to the faith, Father Ssebbowa said many members of his mother’s extended family wanted him to become Muslim.

Original source can be found here.