Priest leads Sacred Heart Florissant parishioners to visit homeland of Uganda
During his studies at Saint Louis University, Father Thomas Sserwadda sought ways to build relationships between his home in Uganda and the people of St. Louis.
He accomplished that and much more through a trip he organized earlier this summer for about two dozen parishioners at Sacred Heart in Florissant, where he has been living while working on his doctoral studies. What began as a mission trip quickly turned into a pilgrimage, highlighting themes of connection, friendship, love and an experience of the universal Church.
Father Sserwadda, a priest of the Diocese of Masaka, came to St. Louis five years ago at the request of his bishop and has since completed a master’s of theology with an emphasis in religious education at SLU. He’s about two years away from earning his Ph.D. in higher education administration, and he eventually plans to return to Uganda to work at Bukalasa Minor Seminary in his home diocese.
When he arrived at Sacred Heart in 2022, parishioners were curious to learn more about his homeland. “They say, we want to see the faith in Africa,” he said. “And the big question: ‘Why is Uganda special in Africa, and why is your faith so vibrant?’ I tell them, our story is built on the Ugandan martyrs and St. Charles Lwanga.”
The St. Louis contingent set off in late May, just in time to attend the Uganda Martyrs’ Day celebration June 3 at the Uganda Martyrs Shrine of Namugongo in the capital of Kampala. An estimated 2 million people participated in the event, considered a national holiday and one of Africa’s largest religious gatherings.
At a July 13 presentation at Sacred Heart featuring highlights from their trip, Jim Lappe shared how African pilgrims walked for days or weeks to reach the shrine. He read a story about residents of a small village who walked about 300 miles over three weeks to attend.
“The people were just everywhere,” he said. “The faith that they have — and I think when we talk about how they don’t have anything — they were happy and they did have something that maybe we need more of, and that is the faith.”
The group from Sacred Heart then traveled about three-and-a-half hours south along Lake Victoria to the Diocese of Masaka. They visited a diocesan-run hospital in Kitovu, where they donated an ultrasound machine to help in the hospital’s work of preventing fistula injuries. Uganda has one of the highest rates of fistula injuries worldwide, often caused by prolonged, obstructed labor and lack of access to cesarean delivery.
They also visited Father Ssweradda’s alma mater, Bukalasa Minor Seminary, where they donated 20 restored pianos through a partnership with St. Louis-based Jackson Pianos. The pianos arrived in June via a 40-foot container, along with other musical instruments, shoes, eyeglasses, school supplies, medical equipment, clothing, toys, liturgical items including a tabernacle and hundreds of handmade rosaries from the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters (Pink Sisters) in St. Louis.
Father Ssweradda worked with several organizations, including the Missouri Alliance for Arts Education, Kansas City UNESCO City of Music, SLU and Hungry for Music to ship the pianos, which will be used as part of the seminarians’ education via a new center for the arts and 950-seat auditorium under construction on campus. The minor seminary has more than 500 students ages 11 to 18.
He said that the liberal arts, especially the performing arts, are an important part of their formation.
“Studies show that the arts have the power to transcend the human soul, to search for all knowledge which is truth, goodness and beauty and that transcends us to our Creator and our God,” he said. “That motivates me to think about my mission after my education.”
Other gifts were shared during visits with residents of a home for elderly and disabled individuals and children at St. Mary’s Primary School and Orphanage. Travelers also visited Father Sserwadda’s parents, Peter and Josephine, and they celebrated Peter’s 70th birthday with Mass and a party featuring food, music and dancing with friends, neighbors and extended family.
Sacred Heart parishioners said they witnessed the joy and faith of the Ugandan people. While the group donated uniforms, backpacks, shoes and other needed items, Gus Heithaus said he came away from the visit with a better appreciation for what it means to truly live with few material possessions.
“The people of Uganda have (a true sense of joy) and I think we need a lot more of that,” he said. “The way that they live is so centered around not only their faith but the community that they’re in. To see the way they live their lives was, for me, an experience and a practice in gratitude as well as thanksgiving and an opportunity to learn what it truly means to live.”
Sacred Heart parishioner Patsy Baldes, who helped organize the trip, wrote in a reflection that the visit was more about encounter than it was about giving. “We came with open hearts and left overflowing with joy, humility and a renewed understanding of the Church universal,” she wrote. “We received love, faith, laughter and inspiration far beyond what we brought.”
Father Sserwadda said a new foundation, Hands of Hope Uganda, will be established to support the ongoing needs of the community.
