Today, were it not the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, would be the feast of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions. They were killed when they resisted King Mwanga's lustful homosexual advances. These 19th-century martyrs for purity were pages in the court of the King of Uganda. Mwanga started out good, even recalling the White Fathers (a missionary order devoted to serving in Africa) back after a three-year period in which they (and all priests) had been expelled from the country. These were delighted to find that in the interim the faith had been passed on "in the catacombs," so to speak; the Christians and the catechumens met to pray, read and teach daily. Although only laymen, they were able to continue to baptize and marry each other, though they hungered for the Eucharist -- even more so in this violent, polygamistic and slaveholding society. In time Mwanga grew to have absolute power and he became corrupt. Besides burning with unnatural lust for his boy pages, he feared and mistrusted the Christians because they did not fear him. He worried lest his whole country become Christian and he lose the grip of power over them.
The proto-martyr was Joseph Mukasa, the king's major domo, leader of the Christian community and shepherd of pages. Whenever Mwanga would call for them, Joseph would hide them. This so enraged the king he had Joseph arrested on a trumped-up poisoning charge (for giving him a legal opium pill when he was sick) and had him beheaded. He walked to his execution unbound. "Why should you bind me?" he said. "From whom should I escape? From God?"
Charles Lwanga took his place in court and followed his brave example in every way, down to hiding the pages and refusing to escape even though the pages who were pagans advised him to. He met his gruesome death bravely -- he and about 30 others, Catholic and Anglican both (only the Catholics were canonized, for the Pope has only authority to canonize his co-religionists), were forced on a grim death march in which a prisoner was speared to death at every crossroads as an example to the natives. First to go was Pontian Ngondwe, who argued "I have told you I am a Christian so kill me here. I do not want to carry death about the roads." Next was Gonzaga Gonza who died bravely without a whimper. Athanasius Bazzekuketta was next and Matthias Mulumba, at 50 the oldest, was next. His death was the worst, since he had joked with the prime minister who had accused him of doing things unworthy of his position as tribal chief, viz., cooking his own food. "Am I on trial for my thinness or my religion?" His limbs were hacked off and roasted in front of him. To prolong his agony, his veins and arteries were tied off and he was left to bake in the hot sun. He lived at least two more days, because some slaves heard him crying out for water at that time but they were afraid to assist him.
Next to die was Noah Mawaggail who when speared declared "I know there is another life and so I am not afraid of losing this one."
All that were left were tied up in mats and thrown on a slow fire to roast and die in agony. The executioner's son and two Anglicans were first hit on the head with a club as a gesture of mercy before the torturous death. Charles saluted them all, saying, "My friends, goodbye. We'll meet in heaven." To his executioner he said, "How happy I should be if you, too, were to embrace my religion." And so it was.
From 500 Christians in 1887, they grew to 2000 a year later and to 2 million in 1964 when these servants of God were canonized.
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