Namugongo Pilgrimage also known as the Namugongo shrine is believed to be a concrete evidence of faith the Uganda martyrs exhibited centuries back. The Uganda martyrs shrine / Namugongo Shrine/ Namugongo Pilgrimage was constructed in the commemoration of the baganda men that sacrificed their lives for the sake of the Christian faith in Uganda.
Why is Namugongo day of 3 June celebrated every year?
Every year on June 3, Christians from different corners of the world converge at the Uganda Martyrs Shrine in Namugongo in commemoration of the determination of young men who braved death for their newly found faith on the orders of Kabaka Mwanga.
The Uganda Martyrs are a group of 23 Anglican and 22 Catholic converts to Christianity in the historical kingdom of Buganda, now part of Uganda, who were executed between 31 January 1885 and 27 January 1887.
They were killed on orders of Mwanga II, the Kabaka (King) of Buganda. The deaths took place at a time when there was a three-way religious struggle for political influence at the Buganda royal court. The episode also occurred against the backdrop of the “Scramble for Africa” – the invasion, occupation, division, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers. A few years after, the English Church Missionary Society used the deaths to enlist wider public support for the British acquisition of Uganda for the Empire. The Catholic Church beatified the 22 Catholic martyrs of its faith in 1920 and canonized them in 1964.
Namugongo Pilgrimage – The death of these martyrs has always been memorable in the hearts of many Christians who celebrate the lives of the martyrs on 3rd June of every year – a day the Republic of Uganda considers as the Uganda Martyrs’ Day and a Public Holiday.
Their remembrance was amplified when the Catholic Church of Rome beatified the martyrs of its faith in 1920 and canonized them in 1964. Follow the footsteps of the first Missionaries to visit Uganda and those of the Martyrs to their execution.
