A PILGRIMAGE TO NAMUGONGO 2025

Each and every year hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all parts of Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Congo, etc., descend upon the capital city of Kampala. They come to remember, pray, worship, and proclaim the sacrifice of the Ugandan Martyrs, St. Charles Lwanga and his companions.

In 1886, the young king of Uganda, the Kabaka, had many young boys at his service. These young men served as “pages” who did the king’s bidding. Many families willingly gave their sons to the service of the king and thought it a great honor. The Missionaries of Africa, (White Fathers) as well as Anglican European Missionaries were present in the Kingdom and worked tirelessly to preach the faith. Many of these young boys were among their converts and met frequently for instruction and prayer. Pictured No. 13 is Karoli (Charles) Lwanga.

These missionaries soon learned of the assorted sexual practices of the king and urged the young men to resist the Kabak’s advances. This resistance was thought an act of defiance and the Kabaka gathered Charles Lwanga, a catechist himself, along with twenty-one companions and twenty-four Anglican boys and sentenced them to death for their refusal to submit to the king’s wishes. We have eye witness records of how many family members urged their sons to give up this new practice of faith and return safely to their families. With complete confidence in the eternal Kingdom of God, these young martyrs endured their fate. The oldest was St. Charles at twenty-five and the youngest, Kizito, at the age of fourteen. Some were clubbed to death, lost their limbs and left tied to trees for wild dogs to devour. Finally, the majority were burned alive. St. Charles Lwanga, and your youthful companions, martyred here, pray for us

I went to Namugongo this year, carrying with me the many who had been victims of abuse by clergy and staff within the Diocese of Buffalo and our whole Diocesan Church, all  enduring such a painful chapter in our history. Many took to the streets and roadways to walk to the pilgrimage site. Some I know from the Diocese of Masaka took one week and walked about one hundred miles just to be present for worship.

This included Jimmy, a seminarian from Masaka Diocese. On hearing that I was coming to the celebration he wondered if I wanted him to meet me at the airport when I arrived. I asked him what he normally would do. He replied that he would walk one hundred miles in pilgrimage with the delegation of about several hundred representatives of the Masaka Diocese. I inquired what he did along the journey to which he answered that he'd pray for his family, his vocation and also pray for me. I requested that he proceed as normal knowing that I really needed his prayers. Thank you Jimmy for your prayers and sacrifice.

It was a humbling experience: to kneel and pray at the main altar in the Basilica Shine which stands over the spot where St. Charles Lwanga was martyred and where relics of the martyrs are laid to rest, to be in the crowds of thousands upon thousands engaging in the miracle of the Eucharist with multiple bishops from around Africa, and to be summoned to distribute Holy Communion to the humble multitude who walked and camped out for days on the holy shrine’s compound. An added blessing was being joined by one of my young spiritual sons, Fr. Jessy Nkamtchou, who traveled from the Diocese of Kumba in Cameroon to join me for the celebration. Being in the opening procession, concelebrating the special Sacrifice of the Mass with our host, Fr. Emmanuel Katabaazi, his brother Fr. John Bosco, the hundreds of gathered clergy, as well as the many female and male religious sisters and brothers all made the day so very special and a powerful witness to the faithfulness of believers in the Church.

The day after the blessings of the pilgrimage, I was able to meet up with Fr. Joseph Kasangaki who we partnered with to assist a number of schools providing them with water tanks. These tanks collect the plentiful rain water through a series of gutters and pipes, depositing the water into above ground tanks. This provides an abundant source of clean drinkable water for the children of each of the schools. Even the families that surround the schools are able to benefit from this most valuable resource. We visited the St. Charles Lwanga, St. Noah, and St. James schools. The children were most excited to welcome our visiting delegation. They did so with songs, speeches, drums and of course dance. They were most appreciative of the opportunity to say “Thank You” for the gift of clean water. Many thanks to our most generous benefactors including many Buffalo area middle schools for your most generous support of these water projects… Clean water equals better health….Alleluia…AMEN!

We enjoyed a fine lunch with Fr. Joseph and the Parish Staff of St. James and were able to see the Motorcycle that the St. Vincent de Paul HOPE FUND was able to provide. The seminarian uses the parish motorcycle for his transportation to the many out-station churches in order to accomplish the goals of his Pastoral Year ministry. 

The next day's blessings included meeting up with our friend, Fr. Peter Paul Ssemakula, formerly Diocesan Treasurer, who is now head of Caritas Maddo. Spending the day with him allowed me to witness the fine work that Caritas is doing. Four years ago, when Bishop Serverus Jjumba came for Mission Appeal in the Diocese of Buffalo, he spoke about a project plan that included the education in coffee farming and production. Well, I witnessed firsthand the birth of that idea. The Masaka Diocese organized three Coffee growing cooperatives. Local farmers join, are educated in care for seedlings, planting and then harvesting the crop. The cooperative receives the crop, shells the beans, determines the water content, weighs, and offers the farmers just compensation. The beans are then processed and sold. The dividends are then   returned to the farmers. This raises the level of local income. The added income from this Cash Crop assists in paying school fees, improve family homes  and increased food security. Well done Caritas Maddo.