Welcome, Simon Peter Kagimu, Divine Mercy Parish Seminarian

Please join us in welcoming Simon Peter Kagimu to Divine Mercy Parish!  We will serve as his home church for the remainder of his time in seminary formation.  He will be joining us for liturgies, participating in parish life, and making a home with us as we support him and his vocation to priesthood. As our “adopted seminarian”, we ask that you join us in welcoming him as part of our community and keep him in your prayers. We look forward to his visits to the parish in the weeks and months ahead!
 
• Words From Simon Peter Kagimu •
 
“My name is Simon Peter Kagimu. I grew up in Uganda, East Africa and came to the United States last year, on July 28, 2021, two weeks after my dad’s funeral and two weeks before the start of the fall semester at Notre Dame Seminary. I have a younger sister back in Uganda about to start on a college degree in Nursing and Midwifery. I also have an elder brother who was ordained to the priesthood in 2016.  
 
Since childhood, my brother and I wished to become priests because of the great admiration we had for the priests at our home parish church. Our parents always took us to church on Sunday where we always served at Mass. The closer we got to the altar, the greater our admiration for the priesthood grew. After middle school, my brother joined a high school seminary which I joined as well a couple of years later. Right after  high school, my brother then went to  a college seminary, but I eventually went to a regular college to pursue a degree in I.T.
 
After college, I applied to seminaries back in Uganda three times, but due to the overwhelming numbers of students from high school seminaries, the chances of admission were minimal. Meanwhile, as I continued to strive for admission, my brother was in Rome completing his PhD in Theology and about to be ordained. When I wasn’t admitted to the seminary on my third attempt, I embarked on a career. Along the way, I was presented with an opportunity to join Notre Dame Seminary through the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Here I am in my second year of six.”