Uganda Martyrs’ Day: Kenyan Deanery Pilgrims Begin 350-km Walk Praying for Priestly, Religious, Family Life Vocations

The 350-kilometre pilgrimage to Namugongo, Fr. Columban said during the May 21 interview, “is simply a spiritual journey. The pilgrims have personal intentions, and some have been given intentions by their Parishes” to be included in the collective prayer intention “for the growth of faith and vocations to Priesthood and Religious Life.”

Credit: St. Joseph the Worker Kongoni Parish/Kakamega Diocese

Namugongo shrine is one of the popular sites on the Northeast edge of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kampala that hosts a modernist basilica church whose altar is above the place where the martyrs' pyre is believed to have been.

The 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.

Credit: St. Joseph the Worker Kongoni Parish/Kakamega Diocese

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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 because of their faith by the King of Buganda between 31 January 1885 and 27 January 1887.

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.

Credit: St. Joseph the Worker Kongoni Parish/Kakamega Diocese

In the May 21 interview, Fr. Columban said he had flagged off 19 pilgrims from three Parishes in Nzoia Deanery, who were to join other pilgrims from the Parishes of Kakamega Diocese, to be flagged off on Wednesday, May 22 by the Local Ordinary, Bishop Joseph Obanyi Sagwe. 

Credit: St. Joseph's Cathedral of Kakamega Diocese

Nzoia Deanery pilgrims gathered at St. Joseph the Worker, Kongoni Parish on May 20 evening, Fr. Columban told ACI Africa, and added, “We had prayers and adoration and then we blessed the flag and the cross and allowed them to rest.”

Credit: St. Joseph the Worker Kongoni Parish/Kakamega Diocese

The pilgrims, who are accompanied by two Priests, had an opportunity to participate in the Sacrament of Confession and Holy Mass before embarking on the spiritual journey to Namugongo, the Kenyan Catholic Priest said. 

Along the way, the pilgrims will meet dozens of other pilgrims from Kakamega Diocese, and together, about 150 of them, “will sing, pray the rosary, the Litany, chaplet of the divine mercy and will also do confessions,” Fr. Columban told ACI Africa.

Credit: St. Joseph the Worker Kongoni Parish/Kakamega Diocese

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From Nzoia Deanery, he said about the 19 pilgrims he flagged off, “this is the largest number to go to Namugongo; last year, we only had three.”

Credit: St. Joseph the Worker Kongoni Parish/Kakamega Diocese

The member of the Clergy of Kakamega Diocese encouraged the faithful to participate in such spiritual journey. He said, “The joy of participating in the liturgy and the beauty of it is an experience that cannot be expressed with mere words.”

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