Pope John Paul II erected Kotido Diocese on May 20th 1991, having detached it from Moroto Diocese and appointed Rt. Rev. Denis Kiwanuka Lote, now Archbishop Emeritus of Tororo Archdiocese, as its first residential Bishop. He was consecrated on 18th August 1991 The Diocese of Kotido was created on May 20th 1991, being detached from Moroto Diocese which formerly covered the whole of Karamoja Region. It now comprises the Districts of Kotido, Kaabong, Karenga and Abim, bordering Southern Sudan in the North, Moroto District in the South, Turkana Region of Kenya in the East, and Lira and Agago and Pader Districts in the West. The first Comboni Missionaries arrived in Karamoja in 1933. Eventually the area became part of the former Apostolic Prefecture of Gulu, entrusted to the Comboni Missionaries under the leadership of the late Msgr. Antonio Vignato MCCJ. The Diocese of Moroto was set up in 1965, again entrusted to the Comboni Missionaries, headed by Rt. Rev. Sisto Mazzoldi, MCCJ. In 1981, Rt. Rev. Paul Kalanda succeeded Rt. Rev.Sisto Mazzoldi, MCCJ, and in 1991 Kotido Diocese was established, with Rt..Rev. Denis Lote Kiwanuka as its first residential Bishop.