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Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga, martyr, and his
companions, martyrs
St. Charles Lwanga
Martyrs of
Uganda
Feastday: June 3
For those of us who think that the faith and zeal of the
early Christians died out as the Church grew more safe and powerful through the
centuries, the martyrs of Uganda are a reminder that persecution of
Christians continues in modern times, even to the present day.
The Society of Missionaries
of Africa
(known as the White Fathers) had only been in Uganda for 6 years and yet they
had built up a community of converts whose faith would
outshine their own. The earliest converts were soon instructing and leading new
converts that the White Fathers
couldn't reach. Many of these converts lived and taught at King Mwanga's court.
King Mwanga was a violent ruler and pedophile who forced himself on the young boys and men who
served him as pages and attendants. The Christians at Mwanga's
court who tried to protect the pages from King Mwanga.
The leader of the small community of 200 Christians,
was the chief steward of Mwanga's court, a
twenty-five-year-old Catholic named
Joseph Mkasa (or Mukasa).
When Mwanga killed a Protestant
missionary and his companions, Joseph Mkasa confronted Mwanga and
condemned his action. Mwanga had always liked Joseph but
when Joseph
dared to demand that Mwanga change his lifestyle, Mwanga forgot their long friendship. After striking Joseph with a
spear, Mwanga ordered him killed. When the
executioners tried to tie Joseph's hands, he told them, "A Christian who
gives his life
for God is
not afraid to die." He forgave Mwanga with all
his heart but made one final plea for his repentance before he was beheaded and
then burned on November 15, 1885.
Charles Lwanga took over the instruction
and leadership of the Christian community
at court -- and the charge of keeping the young boys and men out of Mwanga's hands. Perhaps Joseph's plea for repentance had
had some affect on Mwanga because the persecution died
down for six months.
Anger and suspicion must have been simmering in Mwanga, however. In May 1886 he called one of his pages
named Mwafu and asked what the page had been doing
that kept him away from Mwanga. When the page replied
that he had been receiving religious instruction from Denis Sebuggwawo,
Mwanga's temper boiled over. He had Denis brought to
him and killed him himself by thrusting a spear through his throat.
He then ordered that the royal compound be sealed and guarded so
that no one could escape and summoned the country's executioners. Knowing what
was coming, Charles Lwanga
baptized four catechumens that night, including a thirteen-year-old named Kizito. The next morning Mwanga
brought his whole court before him and separated the Christians from the rest
by saying, "Those who do not pray stand by me, those who do pray stand
over there." He demanded of the fifteen boys and young men (all under 25)
if they were Christians and intended to remain Christians. When they answered "Yes"
with strength
and courage Mwanga condemned them to death.
He commanded that the group be taken on a 37 mile trek to the
place of execution at Namugongo. The chief
executioner begged one of the boys, his own son, Mabaga,
to escape and hide but Mbaga refused. The
cruelly-bound prisoners passed the home of the White Fathers
on their way to execution. Father Lourdel remembered
thirteen-year-old Kizito laughing and chattering. Lourdel almost fainted at the courage and joy these
condemned converts, his friends, showed on their way to martyrdom. Three of
these faithful were killed on road.
A Christian
soldier named James Buzabaliawo was brought before the king. When Mwanga ordered him to be killed with the rest, James said,
"Goodbye, then. I am going to Heaven, and I will pray to God for you."
When a griefstricken Father Lourdel
raised his hand in absolution
as James passed, James lifted his own
tied hands and pointed up to show that he knew he was going to heaven and
would meet Father Lourdel there. With a smile he said
to Lourdel, "Why are you so sad? This nothing to the joys you have taught us to look forward
to."
Also condemned were Andrew Kagwa, a Kigowa chief, who had converted his wife and several
others, and Matthias Murumba (or Kalemba)
an assistant judge. The chief counsellor was so furious with Andrew that he
proclaimed he wouldn't eat until he knew Andrew was dead. When the executioners
hesitated Andrew egged them on by saying, "Don't keep your counsellor
hungry -- kill me." When the same counsellor described what he was going
to do with Matthias, he added, "No doubt his god will rescue
him." "Yes," Matthias replied, "God will rescue
me. But you will
not see how he does it, because he will take my soul and
leave you only my body." Matthias was cut up on the road and left to die -- it took him at least three days.
The original caravan reached Namugongo
and the survivors were kept imprisoned for seven days. On June 3, they were
brought out, wrapped in reed mats, and placed on the pyre. Mbaga
was killed first by order of his father, the chief executioner, who had tried
one last time
to change his son's mind. The rest were burned to death. Thirteen Catholics and
eleven Protestants died. They died calling on the name of Jesus and proclaiming, "You
can burn our bodies, but you cannot harm our souls."
When the White Fathers
were expelled from the country, the new Christians carried on their work,
translating and printing the catechism into their natively language and giving secret
instruction on the faith. Without priests, liturgy, and sacraments their
faith, intelligence, courage, and wisdom kept the Catholic
Church alive and growing in Uganda. When the White Fathers
returned after King Mwanga's death, they found five
hundred Christians and one thousand catchumens
waiting for them. The twenty-two Catholic
martyrs of the Uganda persecution
were canonized.
Prayer:
Martyrs of Uganda, pray for the faith where it
is danger and for Christians who must suffer because of their faith. Give them
the same courage, zeal, and joy you showed. And help those of us who live in
places where Christianity
is accepted to remain aware of the persecution in
other parts of the world. Amen
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