A time came when the Catholic Church was at the verge of collapsing. This is when the catholic missionaries were forced by circumstances to flee Uganda for Tanzania, 8th of November 1882, abandoning their 20 baptized Catholics and about 300 catechumens, like sheep without a shepherd. They had been in the country for three years, eight months and nineteen days since their arrival on the main land 17th of Feb, 1870. But the Catholics, mainly whom had to be the future martyrs fought tooth and nail to make the catholic church survive in whatever circumstances.
A Sunday in November 1882, all of them had the first general catholic meeting which we may call THE FIRST CATHOLICS SYNOD IN UGANDA. That made the Catholic Church survive in this country. All members unanimously elected Joseph Mukasa, the King’s Majordomo to be their leader and head of the Catholic Church in Uganda. They passed and implemented FIVE RESOLUTIONS that made the Catholic Church survive and miraculously grow within a short time.
THE FAITHFUL EVENING OF THE 25 OF MAY 1886.
The Christian persecution was gradual but sure. At that time the Christians were ready and determined to die for Christ. It was preceded by king Mwangs’s heart breaking and melancholic events. The persecution was stirred up by a witch doctor from Bulingugwe island and Busabaala peninsula near port Bulungu. The witch doctor tactfully used the king’s faithful events to force him to kill all the Christians at order of the spirits of Buganda ancestors as dramatically displayed and stressed.
The persecution opened in the evening of 15th of May 1886 by the King ordering Moses Mukasa a Protestant Christian to be killed with immediate effect at Bulungu Port. Moses willingly accepted to die rather than deny Christ. The next victim that evening was Denis Ssebuggwawo who after confirming that he was a Christian and teaching his fellow page, Muwafu, the King almost ran mad, mortally tortured a young boy of 16 years and handed him over to the executor Mpinga Kaloke to finish him up. But Mpinga hacked him up to pieces next morning. King Mwanga wild with anger traversed the compound in search of Christians to butcher the all as ordered by the witch doctor. He first came in contact with his Protestant page, Apollo kagwa. He mortally beat him up with the broken spear handle he had used to torture Ssebuggwawo and burnt up the boy’s religious books.
He rushed to Andrew Kaggwa’s residence while ginding his teeth. On the way he met his Majordomo, Honoratus Nnyonyintono whom he knew to be a staunch staunch catholic and ordered the executioner Ssebatta to castrate him. Nearby was a Protestant page; Muddwaguma, the King ordered ssebatta to castrate him too.
At Kaggwas’s King Nwanga met a catholic, James Buuzaabbalyawo who had tried to convert him. He brutally beat him up kicked the man several times leaving James bleeding. The Kig marched away to his residence almost failing to control his breath. In that terrible situation Lwanga collected all the Christians both Protestants and Catholics to finally prepare for martyrdom never to deny their faith but dies for it.The Ugandan Martyrs challenge us to be faithful to our religion never to abandon it in all circumstances but to be determined to die for Christ if God wants it.
THE DOOMS DAY-THE DAY OF JUDGEMEN T- 26TH MAY 1886
The King Mwanga first called the chiefs for the meeting in his work for the meeting in his TWEKOBE[King’s Lodging house} whom he assured to be in his favours as advised by the with-doctor at Nalongo rock otherwise calamities would befall him. He tactfully began by blaming the chiefs for sending him disobedient children who were claiming to be in the religion of the white men {Christianity}. The chancellor {Katikiro} on behalf of his fellow chiefs said “You Majesty, if they have disobeyed you kill them we shall give you better ones”. To this they all consented”. Happy with their conclusion, he sent the chancellor, Kyambalongo tebukozza and a few others to go to Bulange {court House} and convinced other chiefs and parents of what had been decided and sent one of the messengers to order Lwanga; the head of the pages, to collect all the pages and bring all of them to him.
Charles Lwanga had previously baptized the unbaptized catholic pages in case of emergence. At the King’s order he collected all the pages and advised the Christians both Catholics and Protestants to remain firm; never to deny their religion but to die for Christ as he died for them on the cross. Lwanga volunteered to be their spokesman. Pages entered bravely, went through lines of frightful executioners, came before the king and his councilors, greeted the King in a customary manner and sat down.
The King in great rage and terrible voice blamed them for being Christians and abandoning the religion of the ancestors. He then commanded while pointing at a certain spot. “You who are practicing the Whiteman’s religions go over there, Let others who do not stay near me for I do not want to punish them” Charles Lwanga on behalf of the Christians stood up first saying “what one knows to be true, one should not deny it”. He set of on the spot; Kiito took hold of Lwanga’s arm and bravely and majestically marched together to the appointed spot. Other Christians followed Lwanga including Mbaaga Tuzinde, the chief executioners’ cousin Mukaajanga {known as his son}. King Mwanga called up the executioners and ordered Mukaajanga their chief “tie up all those Christians rebels, take them to Namugongo and burn them” some of the Catholics such as Ponsiano Ngondwe, Athanasius Bazzekukketta and Gonzaga were killed on the way to Namugongo. A good number of the Mityana groups were killed there. These were; Noah Nuwaggali a Catholic and three Protestants. Mathias Mulumba was horribly killed at old Kampala after refusing to continue to Namugongo.
THE UGANDA MARTYRS HOLOCAUST –THEIR UNFADING FAITH, PATIENCE AND DETERMINATION TO THE LAST HOUR
The dreadful and disastrous holocaust of the Uganda Martyrs started with their leader Charles Lwanga who was separated from the group by Ssenkoole, the Assistant Chief Executioner and burnt in a slow but very painful fire at Namugongo Busaale, where the Uganda Martyrs BASILICA is. While at Namugongo-Nakiyanja, 31 victims: 12 Catholic, 13 Protestants and six of other cases were burnt in a terrible finance on Ascension Day, 3rd June 1886. The executioners spent a complete week collecting firewood enough to accomplish their task.
Before being wrapped into reed mats, the Christians were persuaded to deny their religions in order to be forgiven. But to the executioners’ surprise all the Christians determined happy and eager to die for Christ; who died for them on the cross totally refused the offer and was put over a heap of firewood. Fire was kindled during a bright noon, hungry flames sprung up from the gigantic heap of very dry firewood collected for a week by the restless hardworking executioners. Inside the fire atmosphere was filled with murmurs of Christian prayers and encouragement of one another offering themselves entirely to God.
The smoke sprung up into the air like that of a big factory. The smell of the churned bodies and bones filled up the whole village cries especially of women became the order of the day. Mukaajanga, the chief executioner strange to say shed tears for his beloved Mbaanga Tuzinder who totally refused to deny the religion so as to save his life. Now and again more and more firewood had to be piled and over the victims and the flames had to burn afresh. But all the same most of the bodies were not reduced to ashes as the executioners expected. Most of the churned remains are now in the Protestant chapel without knowing whose.
On their way back, Mukaajanga and his fellow executioners washed themselves in the stream called NDAZABAZZADDE {let the mothers who bore the killed children weep). This is the place where the Catholics pray at Namugongo Busaale mainly on the 3rd June of every year.
Filed under: Church
