Writen by sadataley 11:44 PM - 0 Comments

Uganda Catholic church invites Pope Francis

SHOULD POPE FRANCIS ACCEPT TO VISIT UGANDA NEXT YEAR, HIS VISIT WOULD COINCIDE WITH CELEBRATIONS TO MARK THE GOLDEN JUBILEE OF THE CANONIZING OF THE 22 UGANDAN CATHOLIC MARTYRS/PHOTO©REUTERS

Uganda has sent an invitation to Pope Francis to visit the country, as it seeks become the first African country to be visited by three popes.On Monday evening, at Martyrs Day celebrations, the Catholic leadership in Uganda formally invited Pope Francis.The invitation was extended through the Pope's representative in Uganda, Rev Father Michael Blume.Three Uganda's Archbishops, Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, Paul Bakyenga and John Baptist Odama collectively invited the Pope, while attending Monday's mass at Namugongo shrine."Please deliver our verbal invitation to Pope Francis to visit Uganda and tour the martyrs' shrines that were visited by two previous Popes," Archbishop Bakyenga told Father Blume.Archbishop Baptist Odama said, "Please inform the Pope that the Catholic Church has invited him to Uganda."Uganda has had a somewhat tumultuous history with Catholicism.Between 1885 and 1887, as colonial missionaries sought to introduce Christianity to the mainly Animist Kingdom of Buganda, 22 newly converted Catholics were killed at the orders of Buganda's king Mwanga.The king accused them of disobeying him and spending more time praying to a foreign God and refusing to denounce their new religion.The 22 converts were reportedly butchered and their body parts thrown into a fire at Namugongo, about 17kms from the capital, Kampala.The Catholic Church later declared the 22 saints, while Namugongo has since become a destination for pilgrimage, where thousands of Catholics visit annually on June 3 to celebrate the martyrs.Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga said that if Pope Francis accepts to visit Uganda next year, his coming would coincide with celebrations to mark the Golden Jubilee of the canonizing of the martyrs.If the invitation is honoured, Pope Francis will become the third Catholic leader to visit the country in the last 50 years.The first time a Pope visited Sub-Saharan Africa was in July 1969, when Pope Paul VI visited the Namugongo shrine, the visit came after the canonising of the 22 martyrs in October 1964. 

In March 1993, PopeJohn Paul II visited the East African country, paying homage to the martyrs.Meanwhile, thousands of Catholics from all over the world on Monday flocked to Namugongo to commemorate Martyrs Day.In line with tradition, many of them had walked hundreds of miles on foot from their homes to the shrine, as a symbol of identifying with the martyrs.Some walked from as far as from Nairobi, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania and Rwanda.

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