Forbes, John

Bishop John Forbes of the White Fathers Mission was a Canadian who was recruited as a result of an appeal made by the White Fathers in 1884. He was a theological student at the time and he joined the White Fathers in 1886, and was ordained priest in 1888. In 1894 he accompanied Bishop Livinhac to England as an interpreter. As a result of the political strife engendered in Buganda between the followers of the French Roman Catholics and the followers of the English Protestants, it was decided to consult with Cardinal Vaughan and the Duke of Norfolk about the possibility of sending English-speaking Catholics to Uganda. As a result of these negotiations, the Vicariate of the Upper Nile was formed out of the Vicariate of Uganda and was entrusted to St. Joseph’s Foreign Missionary Society (the Mill Hill Mission) which had been founded by Cardinal Vaughan. In 1917 he was consecrated Titular Bishop of Vaga, and was appointed Bishop Coadjutor of Uganda, to assist Bishop Streicher.

Louise Pirouet

This article, used by permission, was written by Louise Pirouet, as part of A Dictionary of Christianity in Uganda (Department of Religious Studies, Makerere University College, 1969), p. 17. Copies available at Africana Section, Makerere University Library (AF Q 276.761 MAK and AR/MAK/99/1); Bishop Tucker Library, Uganda Christian University and in UK at the University of Birmingham; Crowther Centre Library, CMS Oxford and Louise Pirouet Papers, Cambridge Centre of African Studies.