Pilgrimage to Martyrs’ Day in Uganda “journeying around Christ”: Ugandan Catholic Bishop

“The first 100 start the journey and then after 20 minutes we release another 100 until all the eight groups,” Bishop Wanok said about the 340-kilometer journey.

In his message, the Ugandan Catholic Bishop encourages other Christians to join in the pilgrimage because, adding those to embark on the spiritual journey will return with “a lot of graces and a lot of their prayer already answered and they are never the same.”

“That is why every year we get an increasing number of people and the blessings they get are changing the lives of many,” the Catholic Church leader who has been at the helm of Lira Diocese since February 2019 says.

The 66-year-old Bishop who previously served as the Local Ordinary of Uganda’s Nebbi Diocese also calls upon young people to participate in the pilgrimage that Uganda’s Diocese of Jinja is to animate, and says, “If we get all these youth doing this, we are going to save many youth only through this educational pilgrimage.”

The Uganda Martyrs’ Day dates back to the first decade of Christian presence in the East African nation when 45 men aged between 14 to 50 years were killed by the King of Buganda between 1885 and 1887 because of their Christian faith.

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Among the 45 were 22 Catholics beatified in 1920 and canonized in 1964 who continue to promote Catholic life in the country and also play an important role in constructing a Catholic identity globally.

Namugongo shrine is a large property covering the site where St. Charles Lwanga and his companions, who included pages at the royal court, were burned alive by the order of Kabaka (King) Mwanga II of the Buganda kingdom.

On May 3, the Vicar General of the Diocese of the Catholic Diocese of Jinja highlighted some of the safety protocols for the pilgrims ahead of the June 3 event.

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.