Servant of God Vincent McCauley
Ave Crux, Spes Unica (Hail the Cross, Our Only Hope)
The oldest of six children, Bishop Vincent McCauley was born on March 8, 1906, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. His parish school, St. Francis Xavier, first awakened in him a desire for missionary work and evangelization. Inspired by Holy Cross priests who preached a mission at his parish in the fall of 1924, McCauley left Creighton University (where he had just enrolled as a freshman) and entered seminary with the Congregation at the University of Notre Dame.
Friend for the Poor and Afflicted, Educator in the Faith, and Pioneer Missionary to East Africa
In August 2006, the cause for canonization of McCauley was introduced in the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. As Servant of God, Bishop McCauley’s cause undergoes review by the Diocese of Fort Portal, Uganda, Holy Cross seeks to emulate his faith, talent, energy, and joy – gifts by which he made God known, loved, and served.
This Jubilee Year of the Church, the Congregation of Holy Cross in its efforts to revive its missionary identity has Bishop McCauley as one of the Patrons of its Year of Mission.
Servant of God Bishop McCauley’s Story
In 1958, Bishop McCauley led a dedicated team of four members of the Congregation of Holy Cross to establish a new mission in Uganda, which we now honor as the Province of East Africa. During a recent visit to walk in the footsteps of Bishop McCauley’s mission and ministry, Brother Adolf Mugume, C.S.C., the Congregational Director of Communications, expressed his profound experience growing in the mission territory of Bishop McCauley in Fort Portal Diocese. He shared insights from his visits to the ministries founded by Bishop McCauley and interviews with Servant of God Bishop McCauley’s predecessors, eyewitnesses, and the individuals he personally ministered to and mentored in faith. Among those he spoke with were the today impactful faith figures in the diocese as such as Rt. Rev. Robert K. Muhiirwa Akiiki the ordinary of Fort Portal Diocese and Monsignor Paulinus Bagambaki, who mentored in faith, and some served alongside Servant of God Bishop McCauley.
Brother Adolf remarked how these encounters deeply enriched his faith and resonated with a quote from Bishop McCauley’s pocket diary: “In 1958, while undertaking a two-week visibility study for potential Holy Cross missions in Uganda, he noted that the mission to East Africa would be a long-term commitment for the Congregation of Holy Cross, where three to thirty members might work all their lives…” This was further affirmed by the message delivered during the celebration of the Provincial Inauguration on Epiphany Sunday of the Year of Lord 2024.
In 1961, he was appointed bishop of the newly created Diocese of Fort Portal. In addition to building the diocese from the ground up, he was known for his compassion, guiding the Church in aiding countless refugees, widows, and orphans during the political turmoil of 1960s and 70s. For him, as the Constitutions state, “The face of every human being who suffers is for us the face of Jesus” (8:114).
built the diocese from the ground up but also became known for his compassion, guiding the Church in offering support to countless orphans and refugees amid the political unrest of the 1960s and 70s, caring for widows, uniting people of different faith to work together, establishing inculturation initiatives and programs for the propagation of faith among the local community including interpreting documents of the Vatican Council II, training of catechists, mentoring the local clergy, building educational institutions and seminaries, health facilities, etc.
For him, as articulated in the Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross, “The face of every human being who suffers is for us the face of Jesus” (8:114). When talking about his virtues Fr. Tom Smith, C.S.C., a long-time missionary still serving in the Province East Africa said He very well understood what suffering meant as a cancer patient. “Through all these years of missionary love and service Bishop McCauley suffered with a disfiguring facial skin cancer that required numerous trips to the Mayo Clinic and some fifty surgeries. He was a true suffering servant of God. who underwent over 50 jaw surgeries but yet remained available to serve God’s people” Learn more about his Virtues.
on April 19th, 1961 Pope John XXIII created the Diocese of Fort Portal together with the appointment of Rt. Rev. Vincent Joseph McCauley C.S.C., now Servant of God as its first Bishop. He not only built the diocese from the ground up but also became known for his compassion, guiding the Church in offering support to countless orphans and refugees amid the political unrest of the 1960s and 70s, caring for widows, uniting people of different faith to work together, establishing inculturation initiatives and programs for the propagation of faith among the local community including interpreting documents of the Vatican Council II, training of catechists, mentoring the local clergy, building educational institutions and seminaries, health facilities, etc.
For him, as articulated in the Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross, “The face of every human being who suffers is for us the face of Jesus” (8:114). When talking about his virtues Fr. Tom Smith, C.S.C., a long-time missionary still serving in the Province East Africa said He very well understood what suffering meant as a cancer patient. “Through all these years of missionary love and service Bishop McCauley suffered with a disfiguring facial skin cancer that required numerous trips to the Mayo Clinic and some fifty surgeries. He was a true suffering servant of God. who underwent over 50 jaw surgeries but yet remained available to serve God’s people”
Here is a film documentary filmed from East Africa about his monumental life of bishop Vincent McCauley in East Africa. Filmed from key places where he served like Our Lady of Snow Virika Cathedral, Holy Cross Novitiate, and other parts of Uganda, Kenya, Bangel, and in the US at Notre Dame, tressing the roots and ministry of Bishop McCauley.
