Killed for Being Christian: The Personal Stories of All 22 Catholic Ugandan Martyrs

Imagine longing so deeply for the Eucharist that you would hike nearly fifty miles each way to go to Mass every Sunday, traveling through dense forests, fighting off wild animals, and crossing multiple rivers to do it.

Imagine being so eager to die for Jesus that you would actually joke with the one who was sentencing you to death.

Imagine having friends so kind and so loving that when they called you out on your sin you would leave both the women you were sleeping with and live in poverty while providing for their needs.

These are the Ugandan martyrs, the companions of St. Charles Lwanga whose stories so often get summarized with “they were killed for being Christian.” We are usually given only a vague sketch of the heroic leader Lwanga protecting young boys at court from the predations of the kabaka (king). But while that is a pretty good summary, each of these boys and men was more than a faceless member of an executed crowd; they were husbands and friends and sons with dreams and gifts and ambitions and stories that will make us long for holiness. Each individual has been raised to the altars, which is more than enough reason for us to get to know them. Their stories follow, told in the order they were killed by Kabaka Mwanga II. They are:

1. St. Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe: the protomartyr of Uganda, a skilled wrestler and leader of the Christians who saved the kabaka’s life by killing a snake with his bare hands
2. St. Denis Ssebuggwawo: a teenager who loved his friend Mwafu (who was one of the kabaka’s consorts) and gently preached the Gospel to him
3. St. Pontian Ngondwe: a spiteful and vindictive man who became kind and merciful even when wrongly imprisoned
4. St. Andrew Kaggwa: a drummer, trumpeter, and band director who nursed plague victims and refused to take a second wife
5. St. Athanasius Bazzekuketta: the kabaka’s treasurer, who was so eager to be martyred that his annoyed executioners finally killed him early so he would stop asking
6. St. Gonzaga Gonza: a good friend and a good cook (with no regard for gender norms) who made incredible sacrifices out of love for incarcerated people
7. St. Matthias Mulumba Kalemba: an older man who had no patience for nonsense and refused to march to death, sitting down in the middle of the road until they killed him right there
8. St. Noe Mawaggali: an artist (and really good big brother) who was famous for his stunning pottery
9. St. Charles Lwanga: the leader of all Catholics and Protestants at court who protected them from the kabaka’s predations[1]
10. St. Luke Baanabakintu: a sub-chief who hiked nearly fifty miles each way for Mass every week, where he memorized the homily and recited it upon his return home
11. St. James Buuzaabalyawo: a musician who never missed a chance to make a joke, even as he was being sentenced to death
12. St. Gyavira: a patron for tattletales, kids who overreact, outcasts, people you are trying to bring to conversion through friendship, and healing for broken relationships
13. St. Mukasa Kiriwawanvu: a big guy with a bigger temper who lost it when St. Gyavira teased him and got thrown in jail for his reaction (but forgave Gyavira)
14. St. Anatole Kiriggwajjo: a skilled hunter who chose death rather than the near occasion of sin
15. St. Bruno Sserunkuuma: an arrogant, violent, stubborn, drunken bigamist who struggled against his inclination to sin his entire Christian life
16. St. Kizito: the youngest of the martyrs, who wanted baptism so badly he drove the missionaries crazy
17. St. Mbaaga Tuzinde: a royal page whose entire family (including his father, the chief executioner) begged and pleaded with him for a week trying to get him to renounce his faith
18. St. Mugagga Lubowa: a secret Christian who was groomed, solicited, and pressured to give in to the king’s abuse but had a community supporting him
19. St. Achilles Kiwanuka: a teenager who renounced superstition even though it hurt his father
20. St. Ambrose Kibuuka: a cherished son who knew he would be martyred, so he went back to say goodbye to his devastated family
21. St. Adolphus Mukasa Ludigo: a humble man who was happy to help in the kitchen alongside the women
22. St. John Mary Muzeeyi: a vowed celibate who led and catechized a group of teen boys as they hid in the jungle for months to avoid martyrdom

1. St. Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe

Though the headliner of the group, Charles Lwanga was actually the second leader of the Christians of Uganda. The first (and protomartyr) was St. Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe, a man who was deeply admired by the kabaka, but did not survive the violent rule of his successor.

Born to the wife of Mazinga (the head of the Kayozi clan), Mukasa was raised in Mazinga’s household with Mazinga as his legal father, though his biological father was Mazinga’s cousin. When he was fourteen, Mukasa became a page at the kabaka’s court (before the predatory Kabaka Mwanga came to power).

As Mukasa advanced through the ranks of the pages, he came to hear and embrace the Gospel, though Catholics could not practice their faith openly.

Tall, strong, charming, kind, humble, and refined, Mukasa became one of the kabaka’s favorite attendants. After Mukasa saved his life, Kabaka Muteesa (calling Mukasa the savior of the kingdom) permitted Christians to practice their faith freely. Mukasa was elected leader of the Catholic community when the missionaries were compelled to leave Buganda for a time. During their three-year absence, the number of people under instruction doubled and the lay leaders baptized over 130 people who were in danger of death.

Having become Kabaka Muteesa’s majordomo, Mukasa was able to baptize him before he died. After that, he struggled with Muteesa’s successor Mwanga, a dangerous young king driven by pride and lust. Though Mukasa was able to protect the young pages from Mwanga’s predations, he earned the kabaka’s enmity by these efforts and particularly by attempting to stop the execution of a Protestant missionary. For this, he was sentenced to death in November of 1885.

Just before he was beheaded, Mukasa said, “Tell Kabaka Mwanga from me that he has condemned me unjustly, but that I forgive him. But let him repent, for if he does not I shall be his accuser before the judgment seat of God.” He died at only twenty-five.

2. St. Denis Ssebuggwawo

St. Denis Ssebuggwawo was a teen whose love of God led him to befriend a sexual abuser and his victims—and precipitated the slaughter of dozens of Christians.

When Ssebuggwawo and his twin brother Kajane were fourteen, they were taken to court by Mukasa (the chancellor who insisted on the death of St. Andrew Kaggwa, not the protomartyr) along with Mukasa’s sons Mwafu and Kasamitala. The four boys were only slightly younger than Kabaka Mwanga II, and the beautiful Mwafu soon became a favorite of the kabaka, who was already well-known for his inclination to coerce and abuse the young men who attended him.

Kajane and Ssebuggwawo, meanwhile, were taking instruction from St. Joseph Mukasa. Kajane went to great lengths to try to convert the kabaka himself, while Ssebuggwawo focused on his friendship with Mwafu.

There is something beautiful in the zeal of these two teenage converts that did not prompt them to condemn or reject their predatory king but to speak to him of the love of Jesus. Neither did they judge Mwafu (who may have been unable to refuse a kabaka known for punishing those who resisted his advances). Instead, they loved, hoping that the love and mercy of God would bring Mwanga to conversion and strengthen Mwafu to resist.

At this point, Ssebuggwawo and Kajane were still unbaptized. But Joseph Mukasa’s death sent Ssebuggwawo (baptized Denis), Kajane (Isaac), and thirteen other pages to be baptized the next day; seven of them would be martyred within six months. Kajane was not among them; he was made chief of his home county and left the palace. Ssebuggwawo, on the other hand, stayed and continued to preach the Gospel to Mwafu.

Mwanga had resented the interference of Sts. Joseph Mukasa and Charles Lwanga, who protected Christian pages from the kabaka’s abuse. But Ssebuggwawo’s efforts to steal away Mwanga’s favorite victim were more than he could take. Having flown into a rage, Mwanga demanded to know if Ssebuggwawo had been teaching religion to Mwafu. When Ssebuggwawo admitted it, Mwanga beat him brutally and had him killed on May 25, 1886, followed by dozens more Catholic and Anglican martyrs over the next ten days. The uneasy peace following the martyrdom of St. Joseph Mukasa was over; now was the hour for the blood of the Ugandan martyrs to become the seed of the Church.

3. St. Pontian Ngondwe

St. Pontian Ngondwe was a spiteful and vindictive man—before he met Jesus, that is. But God’s love so changed him that even being falsely accused of theft and imprisoned without a trial could not steal his joy.

Like most of our Ugandan martyrs, Ngondwe spent his adolescence as a page at the court of the kabaka of Buganda. He was then awarded a post in the army. Away from the palace, he began to investigate Catholicism, visiting the home of a local Catholic man in the dead of night in order to learn more about the faith. It is this man who testified about the change in Ngondwe’s character, from a cruel and embittered man to a pleasant, likable Christian.

It does not always happen that way, of course. Many Christians are hateful people, sometimes—God, help us—even more than before their conversion. But there are times when grace takes hold of a person, when God heals us in ways that make us entirely new. That was the case with Ngondwe, who looked to Jesus as his model and became the man he was always meant to be, particularly through the mentorship of St. Andrew Kaggwa.

When the persecution of Christians broke out in May of 1886, it found Ngondwe (then thirty-five or forty) already in jail. Falsely accused of stealing a cow, he had been imprisoned without a trial several months earlier and his newfound peace in Jesus severely tested. But when the man who had unjustly imprisoned him demanded to know if he was a Christian, Ngondwe did not hesitate to proclaim the name of the one who had been unjustly executed 1900 years earlier. Twice more the executioner asked if he was a Christian and twice more Ngondwe affirmed his faith.

The Christians were to be taken on to another location, but Ngondwe objected: “I have told you that I am a Christian. Kill me here on the spot! Is death any more in evidence in the place to which you are taking me, than here?” It seems grace had made him more merciful but not less stubborn, and Ngondwe got what he asked for. He was stabbed again and again—long after he was dead—then hacked to pieces. A falsely accused man, a bitter man transformed by grace, he had become a martyr and a saint.

4. St. Andrew Kaggwa

St. Andrew Kaggwa was the master drummer of the king of Buganda and ultimately director of the entire royal band.

Kaggwa was kidnapped and impressed into slavery as a child, then given to the kabaka to serve as one of his pages. Despite this sorrow, he was known to be kind and good-natured and was famous for his sense of humor.

Music had always been at the heart of Bugandan culture, essential to celebrations, ceremonies, and storytelling. But recent contact with Europeans had introduced some new instruments, including European drums, which Kabaka Muteesa chose Kaggwa (already a talented bugler) to play. Under the instruction of a Muslim man from Madagascar, Kaggwa became an expert in the use of these drums and a Muslim to boot. Soon, though, he encountered Catholic missionaries and entered the Catholic catechumenate. It was Kaggwa who first preached the Gospel to St. Joseph Mukasa.

Through all this spiritual searching, Kaggwa continued to play. He became the kabaka’s master drummer (leading a troupe of fifteen percussionists on the drums that were so important to Bugandan culture), then leader of the entire band. This role was particularly significant given the kabaka’s love of music—Muteesa himself played drums, harps, and xylophone.

A favorite of Kabaka Muteesa, Kaggwa was also a close friend of the future Kabaka Mwanga, later to become the villain of our story. Thus situated, Kaggwa married Clara Batudde, who was later baptized along with their baby girl. He was ridiculed for his monogamy, but remained faithful to his wife and his God.

Kaggwa led his people as a catechist alongside St. Charles Lwanga, nursed them through an outbreak of bubonic plague, and baptized the dying in the absence of the missionaries. When Mwanga replaced his father as Kabaka, Kaggwa was made Mugowa (bandmaster general), head not only of the band but of the militia from which its members were chosen. But when Mwanga ordered that Christians be killed, even Kaggwa’s exalted position could not save him. Though Mwanga insisted that he could not spare one so important as Kaggwa, the chancellor would not relent: Kaggwa must die. And so the brilliant musician who had spent his life teaching his people about Jesus gave up his life gladly to proclaim the goodness of God.

5. St. Athanasius Bazzekuketta

St. Athanasius Bazzekuketta was not a patient man—not when it came to offering his life for Jesus, anyway.

Before his conversion, it seemed as though the young page Bazzekuketta was dying of smallpox. His Catholic friend refused to let him die without Jesus and suggested that baptism might be his only hope for recovery. Bazzekuketta agreed and was instructed in some basic prayers, but soon he was on the mend and could no longer be baptized by a layman.

But Bazzekuketta (whose face was covered with smallpox scars) had been touched by the Gospel. He became a catechumen, frequently sitting at the feet of St. Andrew Kaggwa to learn. Meanwhile, the Bazzekuketta was advancing through the ranks. He was put in charge of the kabaka’s wardrobe, then became head of his whole treasury.

Bazzekuketta was baptized just after St. Joseph Mukasa’s death. When he was arrested six months later, he was eager to win a martyr’s crown. He kept needling the guards, demanding that they execute him immediately.

“Take us away and kill us at once!” he insisted as he was being put in prison.

“This fellow talks as if he longs for death,” marveled his executioners as they beat him for his trouble.

When they were ordered to begin their march, he demanded, “Where are you taking us? Why don’t you kill us here?” Still, they did not bite.

While on the march, Bazzekuketta tried to sit down and refuse to go any further. But his eagerness for martyrdom did not necessarily extend to an eagerness for suffering, and after taking a beating he relented. “Very well,” he said, “you can stop beating me! I will march. I was only thinking you would kill me here.” You can almost hear the disappointment in his voice.

At the end of the first day’s march, the prisoners were left to sleep. The next morning, the guards revealed that while most of them would be killed thirty miles away, they planned to kill one of the prisoners right there.

Finally, Bazzekuketta had his chance. “Take me!” he cried, and since he had given them so much trouble, they did, hacking him to pieces. Thus did his impatience serve him well, leading him to a glorious death and a starry crown.

6. St. Gonzaga Gonza

St. Gonzaga Gonza had no regard for cultural gender norms when there were souls at stake. He cooked for the imprisoned despite the ridicule he endured. He did not care about any opinion but God’s.

A Musoga man, Gonza was carried off by a raiding party as a child and impressed into slavery (but a slavery very different from the chattel slavery of his brothers and sisters in America). As a slave, Gonza could still be treated well and even become a royal page, as he did. There in the court of Kabaka Muteesa, Gonza heard the Gospel proclaimed. He was instructed by St. Charles Lwanga and baptized the day after St. Joseph Mukasa’s martyrdom.

But Gonza considered himself a Christian long before his baptism. At the time, those seeking to convert were expected to prepare for baptism for four years, during which time Gonza cared for the sick and visited prisoners. More than just visiting, he actually took the place of a prisoner. His friend Namulabira had been accused of having an affair with one of the kabaka’s wives and had been thrown into prison. Concerned about Namulabira’s spiritual formation, Gonza (having baptized the condemned man) arranged for Namulabira to be released for catechism lessons. To guarantee his return, Gonza would take his place in prison—and bear all the beatings inflicted by guards who could not understand his generosity.

Upon Namulabira’s return, Gonza would go prepare food for the malnourished prisoners. Though he was ridiculed for doing such “women’s work,” Gonza continued to serve both innocent and guilty in this way, unconcerned with people’s opinion of his masculinity.

When Mwanga ordered that the Christian pages be killed, then, there was no question that Gonza was one of them. He was thrown into prison with chains so tight that his legs swelled around them. The next day, he joined the death march to the execution site, heroically struggling through unimaginable pain for seven miles before he collapsed and was put to death by the side of the road. One of the executioners later spoke of him with great respect: “That boy,” he said, “was very brave. He did not show any signs of fear.”⠀

7. St. Matthias Mulumba Kalemba

At fifty, St. Matthias Mulumba Kalemba was the oldest of the Ugandan martyrs, a powerful man who left behind his many wives to follow Jesus.

Mulumba had a passionate desire to find truth. His adoptive father had told him that one day men would bring the truth to the Buganda, so Mulumba sought wisdom in each visitor to his people. This search first led him to embrace Islam, then Protestantism. Finally he met Catholic missionaries and embraced the Catholic faith.

This was more complicated for Mulumba than for the young pages. A well-respected man nearing fifty, Mulumba had many wives. In order to be baptized, he had to separate from all but one. This he did, providing for their financial upkeep. But the priests were worried that his resolve would weaken. To this Mulumba replied, “Do not be afraid, I have made up my mind through my own free will. I am a mature man. I am determined to be a Catholic and abide by all the Catholic laws, never to turn back to my old ways.”

He was baptized in 1882, years before most of the other martyrs, and became a powerful evangelist while continuing in his work as a chief. He had to walk up to 100 miles to reach the three evangelization centers he had established but was willing to do anything for the Gospel. Though naturally haughty, Mulumba chose to free all of his slaves and do even the most demeaning tasks for himself.

But after four years of evangelization and service, his time was up. In May of 1886, as the persecution was beginning in earnest, he was brought in for questioning. Why had he put away his wives and begun to cook his own food, they demanded.

“Have I been arrested and brought before you because I am thin or for the religion I am practicing?” Mulumba quipped, unafraid of death.

And to death he was condemned. His remaining wife (who had also converted) offered herself for martyrdom as well but was refused because of her sex. Mulumba, meanwhile, was made to join the others on a death march. He refused, sitting on the ground and declaring, “I’m not going any further. I am not going to walk after death all the way to Namugongo. Kill me here!” This they did, making sure that his death was particularly gruesome as a reward.

8. St. Noe Mawaggali

St. Noe Mawaggali was an amazing big brother and an expert potter, creating stunning dishes, pots, jugs, and pipes. He was such a talented craftsman that he became head potter to the county chief.

After living in the county chief’s household for a time, Mawaggali moved into a small home on the property of his friend St. Matthias Mulumba Kalemba. Mawaggali was known for being quiet and industrious, both in his extensive work as a potter and also in tanning hides. After the death of his father, Mawaggali made a home for his mother and his sister. Like St. Luke Baanabakintu, he would often undertake the long journey to the mission—nearly 100 miles through jungles and forests. But he was at home when the persecution broke out.

Certain that death was coming, he called his sister, Munaku, then still unbaptized. “To be a Christian implies a readiness to follow Our Lord to Calvary and even, if need be, to a painful death,” he said. “As for myself, I am convinced that there is a life after death, and I am not afraid of losing this one; but what about you?” When she insisted that she, too, was confident in the faith, he begged her, “When we have been killed, never cease to be a good Christian and to love the Christians who will come after us.”

When the soldiers came, Mawaggali had no desire to escape. There outside Baanabakintu’s house, he was stabbed in the back, then fed to the dogs while he was still living. The horror of watching him die so brutally over the course of many hours shocked even some of the executioners, who thought nobody deserved such a death.

Afterward, Mawaggali’s sister Munaku emerged from her hiding place and ran to his killers, insisting they kill her as well. Instead, they took her captive, intending to force her into marriage. For a month, the leader left her in the stocks, before finally realizing that she would never give in. He ransomed her to the missionaries, who (overawed at her faithfulness) baptized her Maria Matilda. She went on to take a vow of virginity and live a life of service to the Church until her death at seventy-six, all because of the example (and intercession) of her big brother.

9. St. Charles Lwanga

St. Charles Lwanga is the most famous of the Ugandan martyrs, a leader of the pages who protected them from the kabaka’s advances, a skilled wrestler, a young man raised to be a pagan priest who became a Christian leader and martyr instead.

Lwanga learned at a young age that his grandfather had been destined for priesthood to the god Mukasa but had been unwilling to remain celibate, as was required. Lwanga determined that he would succeed where his grandfather failed and became committed to chastity. Upon his arrival at the palace at around twenty-three, Lwanga was immediately given a position of authority. His good character and leadership ability were apparent and led to his position directly under St. Joseph Mukasa.

In Mukasa, Lwanga saw a love of chastity that mirrored his own. Upon discovering that St. John Mary Muzeeyi and all the Catholic missionaries were similarly committed to celibacy, Lwanga became deeply committed to the Catholic faith he had already begun learning about before coming to court. Lwanga was instructed by Mukasa and became a powerful apologist even before his baptism.

After Mukasa’s martyrdom (and Lwanga’s subsequent baptism), the Christians at court—both Catholic and Protestant—unanimously chose Lwanga to replace Mukasa as their leader. He evangelized them, catechized them, counseled them, corrected them, and sent them away on errands when the kabaka was trying to abuse them. Eventually, he baptized them in prison, led them in prayer, and encouraged them as they prepared for death.

Having been unable to attend Mass at Easter because it was feared they would be arrested if they went to the mission, Lwanga assured the priest, “We have failed at Easter, but we shall make up for it on Ascension Day. On that feast we shall not fail to be there! How we shall celebrate it!” How right he was. On Ascension Thursday, Lwanga was martyred alongside twelve other Catholic martyrs and thirteen Protestant martyrs. Like so many of the martyrs, Lwanga’s last word (in the midst of his agony) was “Katonda!” which means “my God.”

10. St. Luke Baanabakintu

St. Luke Baanabakintu walked nearly 100 miles every weekend (through jungles and forests and wading through a river twice each way) to get to and from Mass, where he memorized the homily and returned to repeat it to the Christians at home.

A sub-chief under the county chief of Ssingo, Baanabakintu was baptized alongside St. Matthias Mulumba Kalemba. Baanabakintu lived in Mityana, where he was a leader of the Christian community along with Mulumba and St. Noe Mawaggali. There being no priests there, Baanabakintu (chosen for his excellent memory) would begin a forty-two-mile journey most Fridays, fighting off wild animals or bandits on his way to Sunday Mass. For the chance to receive the Sacraments and impart wisdom to his people, he was happy to endure such a dangerous and exhausting venture.

When the news broke that Kabaka Mwanga had begun killing Christians, Baanabakintu could easily have run away. But rather than lie low, he set out at once for the home of his chief, to whom he and his dear friend St. Matthias Mulumba Kalemba submitted as Christians.

The pagan servants of the chief were baffled by this surrender. “What fools these Christians are!” they said. “They knew that they were going to be arrested. Why then did they not take flight?” But Baanabakintu and Mulumba told their chief, “We shall not run away, because we would not wish to get you into trouble.”

The next day, they were interrogated by Mukasa the chancellor, who was baffled by the exclusivity of Christian marriage. “So you are the people who are content to marry only one woman?” he demanded. “And you are trying to persuade other people to agree to such a monstrosity!”

Both were condemned to death. When Mulumba’s refusal to walk resulted in his death, Baanabakintu went on alone. So used to long walks, he set out on his last, culminating in a fiery death.

11. St. James Buuzaabalyawo

St. James Buuzaabalyawo never missed a chance to joke.

Buuzaabalyawo grew up in the household of his sister who was married to Kabaka Muteesa. He became a royal page, then a guard and a member of the band under St. Andrew Kaggwa, who introduced him to Jesus and trained him to be his assistant catechist. Though known to be quite the comedian, Buuzaabalyawo earnestly tried to preach the Gospel to Mwanga while he was still just a prince. Mwanga was not terribly interested, but promised freedom of religion if he ever became kabaka.

It was not to be. Years later Mwanga began his murderous rampage. Remembering the many catechism lessons Buuzaabalyawo had given him, the kabaka ordered his arrest. The next day, when he was summoned before Mwanga, Buuzaabalyawo ran as though expecting a great favor. Attempting to avoid arresting Kaggwa, Mwanga asked Buuzaabalyawo if he (not Kaggwa) was leader of the Christians.

Entirely calm, Buuzaabalyawo replied “I am a Christian, but the title of chief, which you graciously bestow, does not belong to me.”

Mwanga was irritated by his self-assurance and said, “This young man gives himself airs. To look at him, one would take him for the Mukwenda” (the proud and foppish chief of a nearby county).

Pretending to misunderstand the jab. Buuzaabalyawo made a gesture of profound gratitude, saying, “Thank you, Sire! Thank you so much for the great chieftainship that you are bestowing upon me.” Even in this moment of impending death, he had no trouble cracking a joke.

Ignoring him, Mwanga turned to his guards. “This is the fellow that actually attempted to make a Christian of me,” he said. “Take him away and kill him at once. I want to commence with him.” Cheerfully, Buuzaabalyawo bade him farewell. “Good-bye, then,” he said. “I’m off to Paradise to intercede with God for you.” This, too, earned a laugh, though the merciful young musician was not joking.

With the others, Buuzaabalyawo was marched to the place of his death. But when they were offered a glass of plantain wine to drink before being burned alive, the young joker—now serious—declined, in imitation of Christ at his Passion.

12. St. Gyavira

St. Gyavira was raised to be a pagan priest. He was a tattletale who got his friend thrown in jail—and was canonized alongside him.

Gyavira’s father Ssemalago was a chief and a priest to the leopard-god Mayanja. To convince people that Mayanja lived in his hut, he would roar like a leopard. Since Gyavira was his favorite of the 100 children his fifty wives had borne, Ssemalago trained him as a priest of Mayanja. But Gyavira was called to the kabaka’s court. There the other pages kept their distance, fearful of his association with the shrine of Mayanja. They called him Gyavira, meaning “the place where he comes from is feared.”

But St. Charles Lwanga was not afraid. He and the Catholic pages befriended the lonely young man and through their friendship they called him to Sainthood. When Lwanga began to tell Gyavira about Jesus, he listened because of their friendship. But Lwanga, too, had planned to serve another god and had left his plans behind to follow the true God. He understood the cost of discipleship for Gyavira, who had been raised to expect women and wealth because of his role as pagan priest.

Gradually, Gyavira came to embrace the faith, despite his father’s rage. Though it made him an outcast from his clan, Gyavira burned all the instruments of witchcraft that he owned and began to prepare for baptism.

During this time, Gyavira went to great pains to avoid the overtures of Kabaka Mwanga, who was very attracted to the handsome seventeen-year-old. Perhaps it was this attraction that made Mwanga react so strongly when Gyavira teased St. Mukasa Kiriwawanvu and Kiriwawanvu hit him. After the scuffle, Gyavira had run crying to the king, who had Kiriwawanvu thrown in jail for the trickle of blood he had drawn. Gyavira regretted his overreaction, but there was nothing he could do. Though he begged the kabaka to release him, Mwanga refused.

But Kiriwawanvu forgave Gyavira and sought forgiveness as well. Not long after, the two supported each other through martyrdom, just after Lwanga baptized Gyavira in prison. Gyavira was a tattletale, an outcast, and (because of the friendship of Christians) a Saint with a martyr’s crown.

13. St. Mukasa Kiriwawanvu

St. Mukasa Kiriwawanvu lost his temper, lashed out, and died without baptism because of it.

Kiriwawanvu was tall and strong and his size earned him many nicknames, including “Long Legs” and “Rumbling Giant,” which could send him into a rage. And when the diminutive St. Gyavira (age sixteen or seventeen) teased the large twenty- to twenty-five-year-old Kiriwawanvu, calling him “Magulumpaali” (long-legged), he lost it.

Kiriwawanvu lashed out with a splinter of the firewood the two were chopping, hitting Gyavira in the stomach and drawing a trickle of blood. Crying, Gyavira ran to the kabaka (who had an inordinate fondness for the boy) and complained, thinking that Kiriwawanvu would be reprimanded for such a minor offense. He had no idea Kiriwawanvu would be thrown in jail—with no opportunity to defend himself.

As Kiriwawanvu was taken away, Gyavira begged his forgiveness. Kiriwawanvu gave it wholeheartedly, begging the boy’s forgiveness in return. A few days later, Mwanga’s persecution began in earnest and a nearby cell was filled with the other Christian pages. Though St. Charles Lwanga was able to baptize the catechumens in prison, Kiriwawanvu was in a different cell and was unable to be baptized. This must surely have pricked the conscience of Gyavira, who was the cause of Kiriwawanvu’s separation from the Sacrament.

But while Kiriwawanvu never received baptism of water, he did not go unbaptized. In offering his life for the Lord, he received baptism of blood. “I am anxious to die for my religion,” he said when the guards came for him, and young Gyavira (who had been worried about him) exclaimed, “Well done, my friend! I thought they might forget you; but thanks be to God for bringing you, too! Let us stand together and support each other.”⠀

“Thank you for praying for me,” Kiriwawanvu replied. “Now we shall run our course together. No longer shall we quarrel about our little affairs, but fight together for God.” And so, with no bitterness or resentment, the two went together to their deaths. What a beautiful witness of forgiveness and reconciliation—and of the work God can do in the most volatile of people.

14. St. Anatole Kiriggwajjo

St. Anatole Kiriggwajjo was willing to face the king’s wrath rather than put himself in the near occasion of sin.

A skilled hunter, Kiriggwajjo had served the court of Kabaka Muteesa before serving his son, Mwanga. There he was instructed by St. Joseph Mukasa and St. John Mary Muzeeyi and baptized in the aftermath of Mukasa’s death; rather than distancing himself from a faith that was proving perilous, he committed himself wholeheartedly.

Though Kabaka Mwanga had no great love for Christians, he did trust them with his many (many) wives. The pages who risked so much to resist his advances must surely be safe to be left with Mwanga’s women. He offered Kiriggwajjo a promotion to this coveted post.

But for all the kabaka valued his wives’ and concubines’ chastity, many of the women were not satisfied to be one of a crowd reserved to the kabaka alone. The pages who were sent to serve them often found themselves the object of the women’s attentions. Though Kiriggwajjo knew that Mukasa and Muzeeyi had managed to serve in the inner court while preserving their virtue, he was not confident in his ability to resist the temptation of so many beautiful women.

To accept the position, he felt sure, would be a death blow to his chastity. To refuse would mean death at the hands of a king who was enraged by any disobedience.

But Kiriggwajjo preferred death to the near occasion of sin. He knelt before the king and refused the post.

Then he waited for the death blow.

It did not come. Kabaka Mwanga stormed out of the room and Kiriggwajjo was given a reprieve, sent back to continue serving under St. Charles Lwanga. But it was not a full pardon. Some time later, when the king had begun his persecution of the Christians, he made quite sure that Kiriggwajjo was among them.

Kiriggwajjo joined Lwanga and the others on the ten-mile hike to their death, encouraging the younger boys to persevere. During the week they spent imprisoned at their destination, he spoke with joy of their coming martyrdom. Finally, he was burned along with the rest, a victor over temptation.

15. St. Bruno Sserunkuuma

St. Bruno Sserunkuuma was an arrogant, violent, and stubborn bigamist, prone to drunkenness and lechery. And while his conversion to Catholicism prompted him to strive mightily against his many flaws, he was not always successful.

The son of an important chief, Sserunkuuma was spoiled as a child and had a hard time overcoming his undisciplined ways after hearing the Gospel. But for love of Jesus, he refused to give up on his pursuit of holiness, however often he fell.

Baptized in the wake of St. Joseph Mukasa’s death, Sserunkuuma found that the Sacrament had not magically removed his inclinations to sin. He still used extortion when his work as a royal guard required him to collect taxes. And when Kabaka Mwanga gave him two young women as a sort of prize, Sserunkuuma’s attempts at chastity went out the window. He took them both as his wives (though neither was a valid marriage) and soon one of the women was pregnant.

Mercifully, Sserunkuuma was not a Christian in a vacuum. His friends St. Charles Lwanga and St. Andrew Kaggwa were disturbed at his behavior and confronted him, issuing fraternal correction so convicting that Sserunkuuma separated from both women. He left them in his home, providing for them from his salary while he made something of a monastic cell for himself in the palace, where he lived after making a good confession.

Though still a guard, Sserunkuuma devoted his free time to prayer and works of mercy. But when the persecution began, he was not summoned. He stood by while the pages (and a few other known Christians) were ordered to choose between Christ and life.

Sserunkuuma could have escaped that day. But he was on duty, and when he saw the Christians choosing their fate, he stepped forward out of the ranks and confessed that he was a Christian as well. He was arrested, beaten, then taken away with the others. He joined Lwanga, St. Anatole Kiriggwajjo, and St. James Buuzaabalyawo in encouraging the younger martyrs when their courage failed. With them, he was burned to death.

16. St. Kizito

Fourteen-year-old St. Kizito (the youngest of the Ugandan martyrs) wanted baptism so badly it drove the missionaries nuts.

Though his father was still living, Kizito had been adopted as a toddler by a family friend who rose through the ranks to become third-in-command of the kingdom. As a page, Kizito was assigned to the private quarters of the kabaka and thus was left without the protection of St. Charles Lwanga. Young, cheerful, and handsome, Kizito was of particular interest to the predatory Mwanga, but managed to resist the king’s advances and avoid being alone with him.

Kizito had seen Mwanga’s rages. He knew the danger he was in. Wary of dying without baptism, he begged the missionaries to baptize him. But they were wary, unsure of how committed so young a child could be (particularly in a hostile environment).

Kizito would not be put off. He asked again and again. One night he refused to leave the mission until they had scheduled his baptism. Another time, the priest literally threw him out a (first floor) window to get rid of him. He begged, he pleaded, he cajoled, he wheedled, until finally the priest agreed to baptize him in a month’s time.

But before a month was up Mwanga had begun killing his pages. Young Kizito was baptized not by a priest but by the layman Lwanga, not in a church but in a prison cell. Never had anyone been happier to receive the Sacrament.

As they prepared for martyrdom, Lwanga’s tender heart was worried for little Kizito, who had been terrified at the tortures he had witnessed. “When the decisive moment arrives, I shall take your hand like this,” Lwanga said. “If we have to die for Jesus, we shall die together hand in hand.” They did just that as they walked to the place of their execution. But baptism had changed the terror-stricken child. Rather than trembling with fear, Kizito was so delighted to die for Jesus that he kept laughing for joy.

Kizito died alongside his friends, his adoptive father unable to use his position to prevent the boy’s death. And while his biological father resented this, he later became a Catholic and a catechist so charismatic that he converted his whole village, all because of the witness of his child’s joyful death.

17. St. Mbaaga Tuzinde

St. Mbaaga Tuzinde’s family tried everything to keep him from martyrdom. They begged and wept and intimidated and abused him. He would not be moved.

Mbaaga was a royal page and the adopted son of Mukaajanga, the chief executioner. But Mbaaga’s father had no idea that he was a Christian and was shocked to see his son join the condemned Christians. He turned frantically to the kabaka and insisted that Mbaaga was no Christian, then ordered Mbaaga to return to the group of non-Christians. Calmly, Mbaaga refused.

When the Christians were being tied up, Mukaajanga tried again. “Give up this foolishness which will send you to the stake! Only say that you have abandoned religion, and I will hide you.”

“Hide me?” Mbaaga asked, incredulous. “Father, what are you thinking of? I am a Christian, and I shall remain one to the last.”

He was taken to prison (where St. Charles Lwanga baptized him), then marched with the others to Namugongo. But there Mbaaga was set apart, taken to his father’s house where his relatives appeared in an endless train of tears and entreaties. For a week, he had to withstand the pleading of his family, friends, neighbors, even the other executioners. Seventeen-year-old Mbaaga remained steadfast.

All this time, the others were praying earnestly for his perseverance. They had begun to despair of him when execution day arrived. When Mbaaga was brought in to join them, the group erupted with shouts of joy. “Well done, brave lad! You have overcome the devil!”

Mukaajanga still refused to give up. “I do not want you to die,” he begged. “Let me hide you. And, to please me, give up this religion.” Mbaaga gently refused, asking his father’s pardon.

“What kind of madness is this that drives you on to break my heart?” demanded the distraught father. But for all Mbaaga loved his father, he loved his God more. He would not deny him.

There was nothing Mukaajanga could do but spare his son some suffering, so he had him clubbed to death before he was thrown on the flames. And then Mukaajanga covered his face and wept.

Mbaaga Tuzinde is a beautiful intercessor for all families that are divided by earnest convictions—a Saint deeply needed in our times.

18. St. Mugagga Lobowa

St. Mugagga Lubowa was persistently groomed, solicited, and pressured by Kabaka Mwanga. But he was surrounded by friends who listened, believed, and supported him.

A sixteen-year-old page, Mugagga was assigned to the royal enclosure and thus was unable to meet with St. Charles Lwanga for religious instruction during the day. But he would sneak away at night to hear Lwanga tell of the God who loved him without measure. He was strengthened by the other Christians and managed to evade the advances of the king, though he did not have the benefit of Lwanga to send him on errands when the king sought him.

Because Mugagga’s catechesis took place at night, he was not known to be a Christian. When he confessed his faith in Jesus on the day the Christians were arrested, the chancellor himself tried to stop him, to save him as one of the kabaka’s favorites. But Mugagga remained steadfast. He was thrown into prison with the others, where Lwanga baptized him. After that, he was radiant with joy.

When the young men reached the place of their execution (after their arduous march), their necks were put in rings which were then fastened to the wall of their huts. On the day they were taken out to be killed, Mugagga’s roommate was spared; in sorrow, Mugagga whispered to him, “My poor Kamyuka! You are going to miss the rendez-vous in heaven.”

Just before his death, Mugagga turned to the pages whose lives had been spared and lamented again, “Poor Kamyuka! I am going up to heaven. We shall be separated for a time. Goodbye to you all, until we meet again.”

With that, the pyre was lit and Mugagga was burned to death with his friends, all of them praying until they died. But that was not the end of Mugagga’s story. From heaven, he prayed, and his family was transformed. His biological father became a Protestant. His mother became Catholic. And while his adoptive father was initially so upset at the death of Mugagga that he drove his Catholic daughter from his home in anger, he, too, became Catholic eventually. Through his intercession, may we support abused and endangered children and pray fervently for our unbelieving families.

19, 20, and 21. Sts. Achilles Kiwanuka, Ambrose Kibuuka Katikami, and Adolphus Mukasa Ludigo

Sts. Achilles Kiwanuka, Ambrose Kibuuka Katikami, and Adolphus Mukasa Ludigo were all baptized immediately after St. Joseph Mukasa’s death. Though we know less of these three than of their counterparts, small details still help to form them in our minds as real people, not just nameless companions.

Kiwanuka and Kibuuka seem to have been inseparable. From the same clan, even their names are linked: Kiwanuka (the god of thunder) and Kibuuka (the war god).

Kibuuka had thirty older sisters but was the first surviving son of his father, who was overjoyed at the birth of his healthy son.

The boys entered service to Kabaka Mwanga together and served under St. Charles Lwanga. There they heard the Gospel proclaimed and began to believe. Soon they decided to burn the superstitious talismans they had been sent to court with. On a visit home, the absence of these amulets was noticed by Kiwanuka’s father, who was deeply disturbed to learn that the boys had abandoned their ancestral religion. Concerned that they were being corrupted, he tried to detain them, but the boys escaped and returned to court.

Ludigo, meanwhile, had been at court and preparing for baptism since 1881. But because the process was so slow at the time, he was not baptized until the death of St. Joseph Mukasa in November 1885. In the accounts of the martyrs, he is noted mostly for the scars on his face that denoted his Bunyoro identity (the same nation as St. Andrew Kaggwa). Ludigo was a humble man, perfectly happy to join in the “women’s work” of cooking plantains when there were many mouths to feed.

After Mukasa’s death, Kiwanuka, Kibuuka, and Ludigo all sought baptism. Feeling certain that martyrdom would follow, Kibuuka returned home one more time to bid farewell to his family. Though they begged him not to return to the ruler who would certainly have him killed, Kibuuka resisted their entreaties and returned to await his opportunity to give his life for Jesus.

The time came soon enough. With the others, the three were arrested, forced to march about twenty-seven miles, then burned alive.

22. St. John Mary Kiwanuka Muzeeyi

St. John Mary Kiwanuka Muzeeyi was a Pied Piper of young catechumens, ransoming them from slavery and then living with them in jungles and marshes for months, leading the boys to Jesus while protecting them from martyrdom.

Muzeeyi was a man of great maturity and wisdom, as indicated by his name (which means grandpa in Swahili). Kidnapped as a little boy, he was sold into service at the kabaka’s court. When he was old enough, he served as a page and soon converted to Islam. He continued to hunger for truth, though, and when he was placed under the leadership of St. Joseph Mukasa he embraced the Catholic faith and was soon baptized.

On the day of his baptism, this young man who hungered for perfection made private vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and care for the sick. So complete was his commitment to obedience that when he learned that Christians were dying for Jesus in May of 1885, he ran to the mission to get permission to join them. Not only did the missionaries refuse this permission, they told Muzeeyi to hide instead. Though he was deeply hurt by this command, Muzeeyi submitted.

But, ever an evangelist, Muzeeyi took this opportunity to lead others to Jesus. Because of his vow of poverty, he had used all his property to ransom slaves; these young boys joined him in hiding, wandering through the jungle as Muzeeyi instructed them in the faith and snuck them into the mission for Mass when possible. Remarkably intelligent and a skilled traditional healer, Muzeeyi was able to answer all the boys’ questions as well as caring for their physical needs.

Muzeeyi and his young companions lived this way for many months after the death of Charles Lwanga and the other martyrs, when Kabaka Mwanga declared that he would no longer persecute Christians. Muzeeyi felt sure that this was a lie, but offered himself in sacrifice to test the king’s claim. Having received permission from the missionaries, the leader of this jungle catechism class (then probably in his early thirties) presented himself to the king and was killed on January 27, 1887, the last of the Ugandan martyr saints.

Church Life Journal | Articles

Tags: Being Catholic Christian Killed Martyrs Personal Stories Ugandan