By Paul Higbee

Fr. Francis Nsubuga arrived the first week of July as associate pastor for the parishes of St. Joseph, St. Paul and the BHSU Newman Center. From Uganda, he was called to help fill the shortage of priests common to American dioceses, including the Diocese of Rapid City. 

Growing up, Fr. Francis was one of 27 siblings. There was a catechism book in his home that fascinated him at age 8. “I remember the books had a picture of a priest holding up a chalice and host, and that picture gave me joy,” he says. He considers the book the deepest root of his call to the priesthood. 

When he was 9 or 10, a parish priest came to his school and announced that boys interested in becoming priests could visit a seminary that very day. The group would leave in just minutes and boys needed to bring their baptism certificate. Francis ran three miles home to get his but returned to the school only to learn he had missed transportation to the seminar. “I cried and cried,” Fr. Francis recalls. A kind teacher comforted him and said there would be a next time. Sensing how serious Francis was about becoming a priest, this teacher tagged him with a meaningful nickname: “Reverend.”

There was indeed another time to visit the seminary and Francis attended a secondary school that prepared boys for it. He advanced to and through the seminar — wonderful years, he recalls — and was ordained a priest in July 2009. That makes this month his 15th anniversary of entering the priesthood! 

After more than ten years as a priest in Uganda, his bishop appointed him to come to the United States. “I got to know in December 2021,” Fr. Francis says. He arrived in Rapid City the last week of March 2022. The most important part of the priesthood is saying mass, he says. “Prayers are good. Being there for people is good. But mass is our main work, to fill everyone with the church.” 

Fr. Francis is impressed by the natural beauty evident in the northern Black Hills. “Everyone should say a prayer of thanks for living in such a beautiful place,” he says. “Most of the world isn’t like this.” 

We look forward to continuing to get to know Fr. Francis in the future!