Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions

Jun 03, 2022
Angelus
Between November 15, 1885 and January 27, 1887, St. Charles Lwagna and many other martyrs gave their lives for the faith in Namugongo, Uganda. Catholicism began to spread there in 1879, when the White Fathers, a congregation of priests, were received peacefully by King Mutesa of Uganda.
The priests began baptizing and converting a number of pages in the king’s court. But after Mutesa died, his son Mwanga, a corrupt man who ritually engaged in pedophilic practices with the young pages, took the throne. After Mwanga had a visiting Anglican bishop murdered, his chief page, Joseph Mukasa, who had been converted and protected the younger boys from the king’s actions, denounced Mwanga. Joseph was beheaded on November 15, 1885.
Charles Lwanga became the chief page at the age of 25. He was also a Catholic, and took on the role of protector for the younger pages. The night that Joseph was martyred, Charles took many of the pages to the White Fathers to be baptized, fearing …More