ROME-RUTHENIA 29 October 2025 (NRom)
His Illustrious Highness the Most Reverend Jonathan Kyangasha, ecclesiastical Archduke of Verulamius, Primate of Uganda and head of the Reformed Anglican Church of Uganda (RAC), has entered into corporate communion with the United Roman‑Ruthenian Church (URRC), by decree and Apostolic mandate of His Holiness the Roman-Ruthenian Pope. Simultaneously, the RAC will retain its existing internal structure, identity, customs, and autonomous governance, now recognised as a territorial jurisdiction within the Apostolic Congregation of the Consistory of the Holy Apostolic See, the curial office charged with oversight and support of patriarchates, primatial sees, provinces and dioceses in communion with the URRC.
The faithful of the RAC (Uganda) now participate in the URRC’s worldwide communion, sharing in its mission, liturgical life, and ecclesial family. This union marks a step in the URRC’s stated goal of “preserving and renewing the Orthodox-Catholic faith in its full inheritance” — bridging the Latin and Byzantine traditions as the Eastern Roman Church with Latin heritage.
Archbishop Kyangasha founded the Reformed Anglican Church of Uganda (RAC) in 2017, and currently serves as its primate. Prior to that, he served in the Anglican tradition in Uganda (Anglican Communion). The RAC has been expanding its presence across Uganda. For example, in 2024 the ordination of Rev. Spencer Byamukama as vicar in the Kigezi archdeaconry in southern Uganda was officiated by Archbishop Kyangasha. His stabilising leadership comes amid a backdrop of ecclesial unrest within Ugandan Anglicanism: some communities dissatisfied with the processes and leadership of the Church of Uganda have joined the RAC under Kyangasha’s primacy.
This corporate communion signals an ecclesial unity of a different kind. The URRC is an autocephalous Church with inheritance of Western (Latin) and Eastern (Byzantine, Russian, Syrian) traditions. The entry of the RAC (Uganda) as an autonomous territorial jurisdiction in corporate communion with the URRC underscores the Church's growing global footprint.
For clergy and laity of the RAC, the communion affirms recognition of their episcopal orders, sacraments and ministry within a wider communion, which represents both pastoral affirmation and canonical security. And, the RAC maintains liturgical and structural autonomy, respecting ancient ecclesiastical customs and dynamics, placing the RAC in a global communion context while retaining local identity. This is an example of an authentic ecumenical approach, a testament to Christian unity lived out in institutional form.
The new corporate communion of the Reformed Anglican Church (Uganda) with the URRC opens a fresh chapter in ecclesial identity and mission. The link to a global Holy Apostolic See, with acknowledged territorial status in the URRC’s structure, may enable expanded resources, broader relational networks, and deeper sacramental affirmation.
For the United Roman-Ruthenian Church, this partnership marks a further step in its strategy of global outreach and communion-building, particularly in Africa. Uganda, as a vibrant Christian context, offers both challenges and opportunities for living out this emerging ecclesial model. The communion holds great promise for deeper unity, stronger recognition, and broader mission of service in Uganda and beyond.