The establishment of the Archdiocese of Tororo dates back to 1901 when the first parish—St. Anthony's—was founded by Father Christopher Kirk in Budaka in the District of Pallisa.

Pope Leo XIII had the foresight to entrust the Mill Hill Missionaries with the responsibility of establishing and developing the Vicariate of the Upper Nile.  The growth of the Vicariate is a tribute to the Mill Hill Missionaries, who tirelessly dedicated themselves to the spread of the Gospel.  Some missionaries even lost their lives in the service of our people as a result of malaria and other diseases.

Bishop Henry Hanlon (1894-1911) and his successor Bishop John Biermans (1912-1924) are recognized for establishing parishes in the following areas: Budaka (1901), Masaba (1901), Nyondo (1906 and 1914), Ngora (1912) (Soroti Diocese), Nagongera (1913), Soroti-Madera (1914) (Soroti Diocese), Lwala (1915) (Soroti Diocese), and Dabani (1920).

Bishop John Campling (1925-1937) and Bishop John Reesinck (1938-1950) opened the following parishes: Pallisa (1932), Toroma (1932) (Soroti Diocese), Budadiri (1935), Sipi (1937/8), Bukedea (1938) (Soroti Diocese), Magale (1937/8), Bududa (1939), Kwapa (1939), Kidetok (1939) (Soroti Diocese), Achilet (1939/40), Amuria (1941) (Soroti Diocese), Mulanda (1941), Alanyi (1943) (Lira Diocese), Mbale (1944), and Kumi (1949) (Soroti Diocese).  It was during their tenure that the following convents were built:  Nyondo (1925), Ngora (1932) (Soroti Diocese), Nagongera (1933), Lwala (1934) (Soroti Diocese), Pallisa (1936/7), Budaka (1938/9), Madera (1939) (Soroti Diocese), Budadiri (1941), Bukedea (1942) (Soroti Diocese), Dabani (1943), Magale (1944), and Sipi (1944).

The first diocesan priests, Reverend Monsignors John Eneku and Philip Odii, were ordained in 1939. Sisters Philomena, Winifred, and Rose made their first profession in the community of The Little Sisters of St. Francis in 1933. Sister Clementia Khwaka was professed in 1948 as a Sister of Mary.  Brother Epicteto pronounced his first vows as a Bannakaroli Brother in 1938.  Many young men and women in Tororo have followed in the footsteps of these pioneer priests and religious.

In 1948, the Vicariate of the Upper Nile was subdivided and the Vicariate Apostolic of Tororo was established under Bishop John Reesinck, who was succeeded by Bishop John Greif in 1951.  Bishop Greif later became the first Bishop of Tororo when in 1953 it became a diocese.

Under Bishop Greif's leadership the following parishes were founded at Usuk (1951) (Soroti Diocese), Amolatar (1951) (Lira Diocese), Muyembe (1951), Butebo (1953/60), Kabermaido (1953) (Soroti Diocese), Gangama (1954), Tororo (1955), Bulago-Tunyi (1956), Bukwa (1956), Orungo (1956) (Soroti Diocese), Lumino (1957), Dokolo (1958) (Lira Diocese), Bugitimwa (1959), Butiru (1960), Soroti Town (1960) (Soroti Diocese), Kyere (1960), Kachumbala (1960) (Soroti Diocese), Situmi (1964), Kaproron (1964), Wera (1965) (Soroti Diocese), and Kibuku (1966).  Convents were established in Kidetok (1953) (Soroti Diocese), Kumi (1955) (Soroti Diocese), Muyembe (1959), Toroma (1959) (Soroti Diocese), Bukwa (1960), Orungo (1960) (Soroti Diocese), Tororo (Little Sisters—1960), Tororo (OSB—1960), Usuk (1961) (Soroti Diocese), Amuria (1962) (Soroti Diocese), Bududa (1962), Gangama (1968), and Kyere (1968) (Soroti Diocese).

The Bannakaroli Brothers served in Achilet (1955), Budadiri (1959), Mbale College (1959), and  Nyondo Teachers College (1959).

The following medical units were built in Bishop Greif's time:  St. Anthony's Hospital (1960), Orungo (1965) (Soroti Diocese), and Kachumbala (1966) (Soroti Diocese).  Gangama Babies Home (1960) and Butiru Rehabilitation Center (1964) were started during his reign.

St. Pius X Seminary, originally in Achilet in 1952 and now situated in Nagongera, is a monumental tribute to Bishops Reesinck and Greif and Archbishop James Odongo, all of whom went to great lengths to assure its construction and completion.

In 1960 Bishop Greif invited the Benedictine Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament from Breda, Holland, to work in Tororo.  In 1981 Archbishop James Odongo arranged for Benedictine priests and brothers of St. Ottilien in Germany to start a contemplative monastery for men.  These institutions have been the avenues for the archdiocese to maintain indigenous contemplative monasteries for religious men and women.

Bishop Greif was succeeded in 1968 by now-Archbishop James Odongo, who was ordained in 1956 and elected Auxiliary Bishop of Tororo in 1964.  During his tenure, the following parishes were founded: Buchunya (1968), Molo (1969), Agururu (1970), Namatala (1970), Osia (1972), Kapchorwa (1974/2005), Malaba (1981), Nyangole (1982), Kachonga (1986), Busia (1993), Kamuge-Olinga (1995), Cherekula (2005), Kabwangasi (2005), and Namwaya (2005).

Convents were founded at St. Austin (1970), Soroti Town (1971) (Soroti Diocese), Situmi (1973), Butiru (1979), Kabermaido (1980) (Soroti Diocese), Buchunya (2000), Achilet (2002), and Agururu (2002).  Homes for brothers were begun at Budaka (1986) and Madera (1969) (Soroti Diocese).

Archbishop Odongo initiated the following medical units:  St. Austin (1975), Kidetok (1977) (Soroti Diocese), Gangama (1978), Kabermaido (1980) (Soroti Diocese), Benedictine Fathers' Clinic  (1985), Likil (1985), Lumino (1985), Butiru (1986), Tunyi  (1990), and Mulagi (2002).

Its growth and the increased pastoral needs of the people dictated the division of the Diocese of Tororo in 1981 and the creation of the Diocese of Soroti with Bishop Erasmus D. Wandera as its first residential bishop.

Tororo Diocese has been blessed to have five of her clergy ordained bishops.  Besides Bishops Odongo and Wandera, Bishop Denis Kiwanuka (Bishop of Kotido), Bishop Joseph Oyanga (Bishop of Lira), and Bishop Charles Wamika (Auxiliary of Tororo) have been elevated to the episcopate.

In 1993, Archbishop Odongo revived the Diocesan Pastoral Council, which had become defunct during the years of political strife.  He saw the time as ripe to revitalize the Church by using the Diocesan Pastoral Council and its linear organizations as the means of improving the overall organization of the Church and the pastoral service to the people.  The first Archdiocesan Synod was held in May 2000.

Archbishop James Odongo, to his credit, has encouraged and welcomed the "return" of the missionaries to the Archdiocese: the Apostles of Jesus, the Benedictines, the Heralds of the Good News, the Holy Ghost Fathers, and the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales.  Included among "new" missionary sisters are the Bannabikira Sisters,  the Eucharistic Handmaids Sisters, Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church, and the Sisters of the Sacred Heart (Sudan).

The "new" religious men and women reinforce and continue the earlier work of the Mill Hill Missionaries, the Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa, the Little Sisters of St. Francis, and the Sisters of Mary.  The diocesan clergy and catechists continue to play their role as well.

On January 2, 1999, Tororo became an archdiocese and James Odongo became the first Metropolitan Archbishop of Tororo.  The suffragan dioceses of the province are Jinja, Kotido, Moroto ,and Soroti.

The keen interest of the Church in bringing education to the populace of Uganda is documented by the fact that today the Archdiocese of Tororo has 7 Catholic-founded nursery schools, 347 primary schools, 25 secondary schools, 11 technical schools, and 1 teacher-training college.  These numbers do not include educational facilities in the Diocese of Soroti, which were established prior to the division of the Diocese of Tororo in 1981.

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