Up to two million people today turned out to see Pope
Francis honour Ugandan Christian martyrs who were tortured and burned alive by
a tyrant king.
Twenty-three Anglican and Twenty-Two Catholic martyrs were
executed a century ago on the orders of King Mwanga II, of Buganda Kingdom in
central Uganda. Their deaths between 1885 and 1887 were punishment for refusing
to renounce their faith or submit to the ruler's alleged sexual advances.
During this morning's Mass, a somber Francis urged Catholics to follow
in the Christians' missionary zeal and spread the faith at home and
abroad.
He told them to take care of 'the elderly, the poor, the widowed and the
abandoned' - and also prayed at shrines dedicated to the 45 martyrs.
He was watched by attendees including Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni,
the president of South Sudan and the descendant of Mwanga.
During the Holy Mass for the Martyrs of Uganda, Francis first prayed at
the gruesome sanctuary dedicated to the Anglicans in Namugongo, outside
of Kampala, where most of the martyrs were killed. He knelt before part
of the same tree where the men were tortured before being burned alive.
He then prayed at the Catholic shrine and celebrated Mass in their honor
to mark the 50th anniversary of the Catholics' canonization.
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