UGANDA: Pilgrims gear up for ‘Walk of Faith’ pilgrimage ahead of 2018 Uganda Martyrs Day
With less than a week to the 2018 Uganda Martyrs Day (UMD) celebration, pilgrims are in high spirits ahead of the much anticipated event due June 3 at Namugongo Catholic Shrine.
On Saturday May 26, 2018, hundreds of pilgrims from across the country will throng Munyonyo Martyrs Catholic Shrine to take part in a 10 km pilgrimage dubbed ‘Walk of Faith’. The ‘Walk’, which is part of the pilgrims’ spiritual preparation for the UMD celebration, is normally held to enable Christians experience the Martyrs’ pain and their last moments on earth in a commemorative walk.
The symbolic pilgrimage will begin from Munyonyo Martyrs Shrine since it’s the place where King Mwanga II made the decision to execute the Martyrs for their strong Christian faith, and conclude at St. Matia Mulumba Parish in Old Kampala, a place where St. Matia Mulumba (one of the Catholic Martyrs) was killed.
The first three Catholic Martyrs, namely, St. Denis Ssebuggwawo, St. Andrew Kaggwa and St. Pontiano Ngondwe were killed at Munyonyo on May 26, 1886. However, some were killed along the way, while others were burned alive in Namugongo on June 3.
The Walk will be flagged off by the Archbishop of Tororo, Most. Rev. Emmanuel Obbo and the Minister of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, who will also be the chief walker.
during the 2016 ‘Walk of Faith’ pilgrimage
During the walk, the pilgrims will make two stopovers for prayers at strategic sites where some of the Martyrs were killed, before proceeding to the final destination at St. Matia Mulumba Parish where they will have a celebration of Holy Mass, presided over by Archbishop Obbo of Tororo Archdiocese.
Tororo Archdiocese (Youth Office), which animates this year’s celebration, has organized the pilgrimage in collaboration with the National Youth Office of Uganda Episcopal Conference and Uganda Tourism Board. This will be third edition of the ‘Walk of Faith’ pilgrimage since its launch in 2016.
Meanwhile, Novena prayers will be held at Namugongo Catholic Shrine from May 25 to June 2, 2018, just a day prior to the actual celebration. Catholic faithful across the country are called upon to participate in the novena prayers seeking the intercession of the Martyrs. A novena is a nine days of public or private prayer made in preparation for a feast or to seek special graces.
The Uganda Martyrs Day celebration usually attracts millions of enthusiastic pilgrims from across the world to commemorate the heroic faith of the Catholic Martyrs, who were burnt to death on the orders of Kabaka Mwanga II, the then king of Buganda between 1885 and 1887, for refusing to denounce their faith.
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By Jacinta W. Odongo, Media Officer, Uganda Episcopal Conference
