Seven churches that broke away from either the Roman Catholic or Anglican churches are organizing parallel Martyrs day celebrations on June 3 in a further hardening of their defiance against the mother churches.
Allied under the Christian Ecumenical Council of Uganda (CECU), the seven churches are led by Bishop Jacinto Kibuuka, who broke away from the Roman Catholic Church in 2016 after a bitter fallout with Kampala Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga.
He joined the Evangelical Orthodox Church (EOC) that subscribes to the Eastern Rite of Catholicism. Others are Universal Peace Federation, Orthodox Anglican Church, Charismatic Episcopal Church, Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, Anglo-Catholic Church and Worldwide Anglican Church, which is led by Archbishop Christopher Lwanga Tusubira, a former clergy of the Church of Uganda whose consecration as a bishop under the Charismatic Church of Uganda in 2006 forced the then Anglican Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi to defrock the former West Buganda bishop and founder of the Charismatic Church of Uganda Christopher Ssenyonjo who consecrated Tusubira.
Tusubira will lead celebrations at Kibuuka’s Namugongo-based Mamre Prayer Centre International. This will be the second time Kibuuka is hosting parallel celebrations for the Uganda martyrs. He told journalists that one does not need to be a Roman Catholic nor a member of the Church of Uganda to celebrate Martyrs day.
“When we talk of the Holy Uganda martyrs, we are talking about the martyrs of Uganda, not Roman Catholic martyrs, not Protestant martyrs. In this line, those who understand theology, the martyrs are ecumenical in the sense that, when they died at Nakiyanja [at the site of the Anglican shrine], they died together – Roman Catholic, Protestants and even the catechumenates, those who were yet to be baptized, who did not belong to any church but belonged to Jesus,” Kibuuka said.
“We may also ask ourselves, whom did they die for? Did they die for the pope or the archbishop of Canterbury? If they died for Jesus Christ, and we believe in Jesus Christ, then the martyrs of Uganda are for all those who believe in Jesus Christ,” Kibuuka added.
MAIN CELEBRATIONS
The main celebrations at the Catholic Shrine will be led by Gulu archdiocese under the theme picked from the book of Acts 4:19, “Obey God Always and Everywhere.”
The program kicks off on Saturday, June 1 with daily Novena prayers that will run for a whole week till June 9. According to Rev Fr Samuel Mwaka, the head of the publicity committee in Gulu archdiocese, about four million pilgrims are expected to take part in this year’s celebrations.
Government Chief Whip Ruth Nankabirwa, who heads the organizing committee at the Anglican shrine, expects to host about one million pilgrims. The Church of Uganda dioceses of Namirembe, West Buganda, Central Buganda, Mukono, Mityana and Luweero will lead the celebrations at the Anglican shrine.
FOOT PILGRIMS
Pilgrims coming on foot are expected to begin arriving at Namugongo today (Wednesday). Among them are 310 pilgrims who set off last week from Gulu in Northern Uganda.
“We have several groups of pilgrims coming by foot and we expect the 310 foot pilgrims from Gulu to arrive [on Wednesday]. We are also expecting another group of about 100 from Kenya though they unfortunately lost four of their colleagues in a motor accident in Iganga,” Fr Mwaka said.
Former UPC president Olara-Otunnu is among the 310 foot pilgrims from Gulu. Mwaka said there is also a group walking in from Tanzania though he did not have the exact numbers. Speaking to The Observer from Lukaya in Kalungu district where they had stopped to rest, Buhweju MP Francis Mwijukye was hopeful that they will reach Namugongo either on Friday or Saturday.
“I am with a group of 45 foot pilgrims from Butare and Kashorero parishes. We walk in the morning and evening but don’t walk past 10pm in the night because it is too dark, and we don’t walk past 10am in the morning because of the sun,” Mwijukye said.
At their resting place at Lukaya Catholic Parish were other groups from Nyamitanga in Mbarara with about 100 foot pilgrims; Ibanda, 60; Kabale diocese, 100; Kisoro 100; plus another group from Kijjukizo Catholic parish in Lyantonde.
sadabkk@observer.ug