The Ugandan martyrs became the first black saints canonized by the Catholic Church in modern times after Pope Paul VI presided over a ceremony at the Vatican on October 18, 1964. The six-week exhibition features archival documents, photographs and rarely seen films. the canonization ceremony which marks the 60th anniversary this year.

Islam was the first foreign religion to arrive in the Buganda kingdom in 1844, and it quickly gained converts within the Kabaka’s royal court. The first Europeans arrived in Buganda in 1862. In 1877, the first Protestant missionaries arrived in Buganda, at the request of Kabaka (King) Mutesa I via Henry Morton Stanley. Catholic missionaries from France arrived in 1879.

Competition for political influence began quickly, and soon foreign religious teachings and values ​​clashed with the beliefs and values ​​of traditional absolute monarchy.

Twenty-three Anglican martyrs as well as 22 Catholics were killed under the watch of Kakaka Mwanga of Buganda for disobedience starting in 1885. Most of the 22 martyrs were pages of the king’s palace. Thirteen of them were burned alive in Namugongo and nine killed in other places, according to the Catholic shrine of Ugandan martyrs in Namugongo.

The first Catholic saint to be martyred on November 15, 1885 was the great domo of the king and Christian leader, Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe. He was killed because he begged the king not to kill Bishop James Hannington, an Anglican missionary, who had attempted to enter Buganda from the east, then considered the back door to the kingdom. Balikuddembe was beheaded and burned in the Nakivubo swamp in downtown Kampala. Bloody executions

In May 1886, Kabaka Mwanga, angered by the converts’ disobedience, ordered the execution of those who professed Christianity. The main persecution that led to the Namugongo Holocaust broke out on May 15, 1886 at Munyonyo, then a royal compound near Lake Victoria. Kabaka Mwanga condemned the Christians to death by throwing spears and sentencing Denis Ssebuggwawo and Andrew Kaggwa to death.

Born in Busoga, Mulumba was enslaved as a youth. By the early 1880s, he had become the chief aide to the chief of Ssingo County in Buganda. He was baptized into the Catholic Church on Pentecost Sunday in 1882.

Mulumba was martyred in May 1886 in old Kampala. His executioners cut off his arms and legs, then roasted his skin over a fire before his eyes. Traditional herbs were applied to the wounds to prevent it from bleeding excessively. He would have died of thirst three days later, without protest, with the name of God on his lips.

There is a cross made of mulumba wood, carved from the tree to which Mulumba was tied while he was dismembered, dying in utter agony. There are the chains that bound Balikuddembe as he was led to his death. There is a crucifix that belonged to Charles Lwanga, head of the court pages of Mwanga, who was one of the Namugongo martyrs.

The crucifix offered to Saint Kizito by Saint Lwanga is on display. Kizito Omuto was the youngest person killed during the persecution. He was baptized in May 1886 by Charles Lwanga, head of the Christian community at the court of Kabaka Mwanga, and burned alive on June 3, 1886 in Namugongo. He is the patron saint of children.

The relics bear witness to the agony of the martyrs and their heroism. There is the Small Catechism in Luganda and French written in 1881. This catechism was used by the pioneer missionaries to teach the first converts, among whom were the future martyrs. It included an alphabet, the creed and the Hail Mary.

Exhibited is the report of Father Siméon Lourdel to the Superior General of Algiers on the death of the martyrs of Namugongo, dated June 25, 1886. There is the banner displayed at Saint Peter’s Basilica on October 18, 1964 as well as a film of 18 minutes. film of the mass.

On display are a rosary and a feather from Mgr Léon Livinhac, who was Vicar Apostolic of Victoria Nyanza. He was in Mengo in May 1886, when the Ugandan martyrs were immolated. In 1890, he was appointed Superior General of the Missionaries of Africa.

The exhibition is curated by Dr David Ngendo Tshimba of the Uganda Martyrs University Center for African Studies, with the assistance of the co-curators of the planning committee, which included Father Richard Nnyombi of the Missionaries of Africa, Fathers Anthony Musuubire and John Vianney Kitoolo of the University of the Martyrs of Africa. Archdiocese of Kampala, John Baptist Ssemitego of the UMU Guild and Professor Derek R. Peterson of the University of Michigan, USA. His Grace Paul Ssemogerere, Archbishop of Kampala, oversaw the return of the relics of the Ugandan martyrs from Rome on September 9, 2024. The relics were delivered to Kampala by Father Nyombi.

“The exhibition contains four memorabilia pieces, 25 rarely seen photographs/art prints and 7 first-class relics,” Ngendo-Tshimba told Sunday Monitor.

Achievement of the martyrs

According to curators, soon after the fires in Namugongo ended, Catholic missionaries searched the ashes and recovered the bodily remains of Charles Lwanga and Mattias Mulumba who were executed separately. Other non-corporeal remains of the cremated martyrs were later recovered. They were convinced that the young people who died there were martyrs in the faith. In 1912, the Vatican approved the veneration of martyrs; and on June 6, 1920, they were beatified. But it was Ugandan Christians – not the Vatican – who made the martyrs Africa’s first modern saints.

There is a letter from Mgr Charles Lavigerie to Mgr Léon Livinhac dated March 22, 1887. Lavigerie responded to the news of the martyrdom by saying that the Pope had instructed Livinhac to “immediately begin the first preparatory information for the beatification and canonization of these generous Christians. .”

The “Decree of Beatification of the Martyrs of Uganda” issued by Pope Benedict XV on June 6, 1920 is exhibited. There is the “Decree of Canonization of the Martyrs of Uganda” issued by Pope Paul VI in October 1964.

“In a short time, they gave so many examples of virtue, and they showed such greatness of spirit, that it is rightly said that the praises of these holy men are equal to those of those whose blood decorated the beginnings of Christian society. ” it reads in part.

On October 18, 1964, during a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Pope Paul VI canonized 22 Catholic martyrs. At mass that day, a choir of Ugandan students sang several hymns to the martyrs composed by the great musician Joseph Kyamgambidwa. It was the first time music was performed at St. Peter’s in a language other than Latin.

Kyangambidwa’s “Ugandan Martyrs’ Oratorio” was performed by a choir of about 100 singers, many of whom were Ugandan students studying in Europe. The oratorio consists of 22 hymns. During the canonization service, the choir sang “Karoli Lwanga wuuyo omulwanyi owamaanyi” (Lwanga the invincible religious warrior), “Kizito Omuto ye wange” (Kizito my younger brother) and others. It was the first time that a choir sang in a language other than Latin during a mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, and the first time that African drums sounded in the holy precinct.

There is a photo of Kyangambidwa with the choir singing his “Uganda Martyrs Oratori” during a rehearsal in October 1964. He was also captured playing the amadinda. Drummers and backing singers prepare to sing the Kyamgambidwa Oratorio.

There is a photo of Pope Paul with the Ugandan delegation, including Archbishop Dr Leslie Brown, Archbishop J Kiwanuka and Reverend Father Leo Volker, Superior General of the Missionaries of Africa at the canonization of the Ugandan martyrs on October 18 1964. Another photo captures Pope Paul VI blessing the altar at Namugongo on August 2, 1969. It was the first time a pope set foot on African soil.

“For us in Africa, the return of the mortal remains of the Ugandan martyrs affirms the central role of our people in the formation of the Christian faith,” the conservatives say in the curator’s statement.

In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the canonization of the Uganda Martyrs, the curators say they strive to bring to the forefront the Uganda Martyrs as young, gifted lay people who gracefully embodied the charged prescription of Gospel meaning of “(d)give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21).

In October 1888, a war broke out between Christians and Muslims. The Christians were defeated. Most of them fled Buganda. The expelled missionaries went to Tanganyika. Their post at Nalukolongo was looted and destroyed, and in the months that followed the land reverted to a bush state. When the missionaries returned to Buganda in 1890, they searched for the box and found it on November 13, 1893.

Fearing for the safety of these precious relics, Mgr Jean Joseph Hirth took them to Bukumbi in Tanganyika. They were brought back to Uganda in 1899 by Bishop Henry Streicher and kept in Rubaga while the beatification process was underway.

In 1920, the Ugandan martyrs were beatified in Rome by Pope Benedict XV. In his beatification homily, the Pope said this about their relics: “These servants of God: Charles Lwanga, Matia Mulumba and their 20 Companions from Uganda died for God because of their religion. From now on, they will be called “Blessed” (Beati); and their relics will be venerated and a halo will be placed around their heads on their paintings.

In 1942, the relics of Saint Lwanga and Saint Mulumba were used in the miraculous healing of two nuns – Sisters Mary Aloyse and Rechiedis Buck (White Sisters) at Rubaga Hospital – who had been infected with a deadly plague. It was this miracle that led to the canonization of the Ugandan martyrs in 1964. These precious relics were returned to Uganda courtesy of the Missionaries of Africa.

In 1920, the Ugandan martyrs were beatified in Rome by Pope Benedict XV. In his beatification homily, the Pope said this about their relics: “These servants of God: Charles Lwanga, Matia Mulumba and their 20 Companions from Uganda died for God because of their religion. From now on, they will be called “Blessed” (Beati); and their relics will be venerated and a halo will be placed around their heads on their paintings.