{"id":32025,"date":"2022-06-04T14:18:04","date_gmt":"2022-06-04T14:18:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/transnational-appeal-of-the-uganda-martyrs"},"modified":"2022-06-04T14:22:28","modified_gmt":"2022-06-04T14:22:28","slug":"transnational-appeal-of-the-uganda-martyrs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/transnational-appeal-of-the-uganda-martyrs","title":{"rendered":"Transnational appeal of the Uganda martyrs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>After commemorating a subdued June 3 Martyrs Day for two successive years, yesterday\u2019s Eucharistic celebrations at Namugongo were back into some semblance of the pre-pandemic order.<\/p>\n

The Fort Portal Catholic Diocese animated the Martyrs Day liturgy, which drew millions of pilgrims to the Namugongo shrine.<\/p>\n

Martyrs Day is marked as a public holiday in Uganda. In recent years, the celebration has\u2014despite the best efforts of the coronavirus pandemic\u2014established something of a transnational appeal.<\/p>\n

The Uganda Martyrs\u201423 Anglican and 22 Catholic converts to Christianity executed between January 31, 1885 and January 27, 1887 at the behest of Kabaka Mwanga II\u2014have been immortalised in divinity books and endlessly recalled since.<\/p>\n

The Catholic martyrs, who were beatified in 1920 and canonised in 1964 by their church, have particularly made an indelible impression outside the bounds of Uganda.<\/p>\n

Saint Kizito was the youngest martyr slain on Kabaka Mwanga\u2019s watch. Saint Kizito was anywhere between 13 and 14 when he was burned alive on June 3, 1886. He had been baptised by Saint Charles Lwanga (who was also martyred on June 3, 1886) a little over a week earlier at Munyonyo.<\/p>\n

The name Kizito is astonishingly popular in West African countries such as Nigeria, Cameroon and Ghana. It has also enjoyed enormous acceptability in other countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Zambia, where catholicism still has considerable latitude.<\/p>\n

Saint Kizito is not the only Ugandan Martyr to wield tremendous influence. Churches named after Saint Charles Lwanga are unimaginably many. In Nigeria alone, brick-and-mortar facilities that have taken on the name St Charles Lwanga Parish Catholic Church can be found in Abuja and Kaduna, to mention but two.<\/p>\n

Last December, Mr Charles Osagie\u2014a parishioner\u2014posted a photo to Facebook that captured the troves of artwork and symbolism relating to the spiritual life of the church. He purred: \u201cIt\u2019s about started (sic) here, the dedication mass of our church building, St Charles Lwanga Parish Apo, Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja by His Grace, Most Rev Dr Ignatius Ayau Kaigama (Metropolitan Archbishop of Abuja).\u201d<\/p>\n

In Italy, 10kms away from the Holy See\u2019s seat of power\u2014the Vatican\u2014lies a late 20th Century parish church. The name\u2014Santi Martiri dell\u2019Uganda\u2014is a bit of a giveaway. It translates to: Holy Martyrs of Uganda.<\/p>\n

Built in 1980, Pope John Paul II elevated it to the status of a church on June 28, 1988. Pope John Paul II gave a moving homily during the church\u2019s dedication that culminated in him concluding that \u201cChristian Rome looks once again to Christian Africa for the modern and heroic page, which it has added to its martyrology and its history.\u201d<\/p>\n

He had earlier said thus to the Ugandan delegation in attendance: \u201cDear pilgrims from Uganda, it is a joy to have you here today. You are the heirs of the martyrs in whose honour this church has been built. They have handed down to you the treasure of the Christian faith. It is a treasure whose value is all the more evident because of their witness to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were prepared to die rather than be robbed of it. They knew that it is worth more than all earthly wealth because it gives access to riches that are infinitely superior and that last forever because it is the gateway to a life with which the life of the body cannot be compared.\u201d<\/p>\n

The parish church\u2014whose maiden stone was laid in 1973\u2014was the cornerstone of this year\u2019s Holy Week. Preparations for Pope Francis\u2019s meditations and Way of the Cross were entrusted to the church\u2019s care, which it gave unstintedly to executing.<\/p>\n

But it is in the peculiarities of church life that the transnational appeal of the martyrs of Uganda is stunning in its ubiquity. Strands of the martyrology can be glimpsed in a parish church in Zimbabwe\u2019s second largest city of Bulawayo. Situated in the township of Luveve, the Uganda Martyrs Roman Catholic Church\u2014though hardly an edifice\u2014has been in existence since 1962.<\/p>\n

In the South African township of Umlazi sits another brick-and-mortar church called Uganda Martyrs Parish. A lot can be teased from the detail of the church\u2019s emblem. It\u2019s essentially the Roman cross planted in open fire with three males\u2014either side of the divide\u2014grappling with a furnace.<\/p>\n

Parishioners have walked through Uganda Martyrs Parish\u2019s doors in KwaZulu-Natal since 1971 when Nelson Mandela was still marooned on Robben Island.<\/p>\n

Schools<\/p>\n

To further show that the Uganda Martyrs are not about to recede from collective memory, the penchant for naming schools after them remains stronger than ever. And it\u2019s not just in their native Uganda.<\/p>\n

In 2012, the sleepy Botswanan city of Francistown cut the ribbon across the entrance to St Kizito Secondary School.<\/p>\n

The school\u2019s website reveals that \u201cit is named after a young Roman Catholic martyr from Uganda, who lost his life for his faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

The website further adds that the school \u201cis guided and managed under Roman Catholic Church principles.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. After commemorating a subdued June 3 Martyrs Day for two successive years, yesterday\u2019s Eucharistic celebrations at Namugongo were back into some semblance of the pre-pandemic order. The Fort Portal Catholic Diocese animated the Martyrs Day liturgy, which drew millions of pilgrims to the Namugongo shrine. Martyrs Day is marked as a public […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":32024,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-32025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nTransnational appeal of the Uganda martyrs - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"After commemorating a subdued June 3 Martyrs Day for two successive years, yesterday\u2019s Eucharistic celebrations at Namug ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/transnational-appeal-of-the-uganda-martyrs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Transnational appeal of the Uganda martyrs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After commemorating a subdued June 3 Martyrs Day for two successive years, yesterday\u2019s Eucharistic celebrations at Namug ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/transnational-appeal-of-the-uganda-martyrs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-04T14:18:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-06-04T14:22:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2022\/06\/postQueueImg_2-629b6a8d7a489.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/transnational-appeal-of-the-uganda-martyrs#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/transnational-appeal-of-the-uganda-martyrs\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Transnational appeal of the Uganda martyrs\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-04T14:18:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-06-04T14:22:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/transnational-appeal-of-the-uganda-martyrs\"},\"wordCount\":842,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/transnational-appeal-of-the-uganda-martyrs#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2022\/06\/postQueueImg_2-629b6a8d7a489.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/transnational-appeal-of-the-uganda-martyrs#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/transnational-appeal-of-the-uganda-martyrs\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/transnational-appeal-of-the-uganda-martyrs\",\"name\":\"Transnational appeal of the Uganda martyrs - 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