Christ the King Priory,

Tororo Tororo is a town in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Tororo District. History Tororo was garrisoned by the Uganda Army's Air and Sea Battalion during the Uganda–Tanzania War ...

Eastern Region Eastern Region or East Region may refer to: * Eastern Region (Abu Dhabi): Al Ain *Eastern Region, Ghana *Eastern Region (Iceland) *Eastern Region, Nepal *Eastern Region, Nigeria * Eastern Region, Serbia * Eastern Region, Uganda * Eastern Region of ...

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...

, is a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

of the Congregation of Missionary Benedictines of Saint Ottilien. Established in the 1980s by Fr John Neudegger, OSB, the monastery is currently home to 24

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s. Fr Prior Fidelis is the community's superior.

History

Early Years

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Uganda was embroiled in

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

. Hostilities forced the withdrawal of many Christian

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

from the country. A number of Benedictine

sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...

found themselves in need of

spiritual direction Spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divine, or to learn and grow in their personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters of the d ...

, and requested that

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

Lambert Dörr of Peramiho Abbey send one of his Missionary Benedictine monks to assist their community. In 1980, Abbot Lambert assigned a Benedictine

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

, then residing at

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city prope ...

dependency of Peramiho, to Uganda to minister to the sisters. Fr John Neudegger arrived in

in 1981. Though much of his time was occupied with the spiritual direction of the Benedictine sisters, he also had the opportunity to recruit local vocations for the Nairobi monastery from which he had come. Indeed, monastic vocations proved to be more fruitful in Uganda than back in

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. This led to the foundation of a house in Uganda for the training of indigenous monastic vocations. Neudegger purchased some property on the outskirts of Tororo, and built a few simple brick buildings. This first foundation was placed under the Council of the

Ottilien Congregation The Ottilien Congregation, often also known as the St. Ottilien Congregation and as the Missionary Benedictines, is a congregation of religious houses within the Benedictine Confederation, the aim of which is to combine the Benedictine way of lif ...

. Fr Aelred Cousins, a Benedictine of Belmont Abbey, joined Neudegger in 1983, aiding in the spiritual formation of the candidates. At the Congregation's

General Chapter A chapter ( la, capitulum or ') is one of several bodies of clergy in Roman Catholic, Old Catholic, Anglican, and Nordic Lutheran churches or their gatherings. Name The name derives from the habit of convening monks or canons for the read ...

in 1984, the Tororo project was accepted as a pre-foundation under the sponsorship of the Council of the Congregation. Neudegger's monastery was given four years to prove that the Benedictine life could survive in Uganda. Like the monastic community of Agbang, the venture was seen as an attempt to use local resources and skills to build a truly African monastic community. In 1988, when the next General Chapter met, the delegates were satisfied with the profess of the Tororo monastery. The community was allowed to open a canonical

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

, in which vocations would be trained according to the principles of the Missionary Benedictines. To aid this, monks of the Congregation would be sent to the foundation to help in the physical and spiritual development of the monastery.

Later Development

Despite its initial promise, the community of Tororo had to deal with the ongoing internecine violence in Uganda. On August 25, 1990, one of the brothers was brutally murdered. The monks of Tororo are employed in

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

, automotive maintenance, and carpentry. A fine art studio on the monastery premises promotes locally inspired art. The monks also provide necessary services to the local population, repairing eyeglasses and running a dispensary. An agricultural school and a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

are attached to the monastery. On November 21, 1993, the monastic foundation at Tororo was raised to the status of a simple priory. The monastery remains under the direct control of the Council of the

Congregation A congregation is a large gathering of people, often for the purpose of worship. Congregation may also refer to: * Church (congregation), a Christian organization meeting in a particular place for worship * Congregation (Roman Curia), an adminis ...

Dependencies

At this time, Christ the King Priory has no dependent houses.

Personnel

As of May 18, 2011, 13 solemnly professed monks (six of them priests) resided at Tororo. At this time, the community also included seven temporally professed monks, four novices, and three postulants. Fr Prior Edward Etengu is the current superior of the monastic community. He was appointed prior on March 29, 2006.

References

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