Saint Noé Mawaggali
Martyr en Ouganda (+1886)
Page du roi Mwanga, quand commença la persécution, il refusa, sans peur, de fuir et offrit spontanément sa poitrine aux lances des soldats. Percé de coups, il fut alors pendu à un arbre, jusqu'à ce qu'il rendît l'esprit pour le Christ à Mityana en Ouganda.
Béatifié par Benoît XV en 1920 et canonisé par Paul VI en 1964, membre du groupe des 22 martyrs de l'Ouganda.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/10924/Saint-Noe-Mawaggali.html
Mawaggali, Noé
1850-1886
Église Catholique
Ouganda
Noé Mawaggali était un des trois martyrs catholiques de Mityana, Ouganda,
les deux autres étant Matthias Kalemba et Luc Banabakintu. Mawaggali était le
fils de Musazi et membre du clan des cerfs de la brousse (Ngabi), et sa mère s’appelait
Meme. Il est né à Nkazibaku dans le compté Ssingo de Buganda, vers 1850. Il
était maître potier, et avait été nommé potier du chef de compté, car celui-ci
admirait beaucoup son travail. Après avoir vécu un certain temps dans la maison
du chef, Mawaggali est devenu locataire de Matthias Kalemba et a bâti une
maison sur la propriété de celui-ci. Kalemba était non seulement son
propriétaire mais aussi son ami, et c’est cette amitié, ajoutée au zèle et à
l’exemple chrétien de Matthias, qui a attiré Mawaggali vers lui et qui l’a
persuadé à s’inscrire au catéchisme catholique. Il a éventuellement été baptisé
le 1er novembre, 1885, avec un groupe de vingt-deux personnes.
En plus de la poterie, Mawaggali faisait aussi du tannage de peaux, et
avait la réputation d’être un ouvrier industrieux et stable. Physiquement
parlant, il était grand et mince. Quoiqu’il ne se soit toujours pas marié avant
l’époque de son martyre, son comportement moral était rigoureusement correct.
Par la suite, sa mère Meme a été baptisée, et a pris le nom de Valeria, alors
que sa sœur Munaku, qui avait dix-huit ans de moins, a souffert pour sa foi au
temps du martyre de son frère. Elle aussi à été baptisée, prenant le nom de
Maria Matilda, et elle a vécu jusqu’à l’âge de soixante-seize ans.
En 1881, Mawaggali faisait partie d’un groupe de plusieurs catéchumènes
catholiques qui prenaient des cours sur l’évangile de St. Matthieu et sur les
Actes des Apôtres donnés par le missionnaire anglican Alexander Mackay. Quand
la persécution de 1886 a éclaté, Mawaggali était à Mityana, à quelques soixante
kilomètres de la capitale, mais la communauté chrétienne qui existait là était
bien connue et n’échappa pas au regard. Les détails de la mort de son frère ont
été racontés plus tard par Munaku. Mawaggali était à la tête de la maison de
Matthias Kalemba, qui était à Mengo avec Luc Banabakintu. Les chrétiens à
Mityana avaient pris l’habitude d’envoyer des représentants chaque semaine au
cours de catéchisme qui était donné à la mission catholique. Le matin du 31
mai, Mawaggali était allé à Kawingo pour voir les hommes à qui c’était le tour.
Pendant qu’il était parti, le groupe qui faisait le raid est arrivé.
Mawaggali était dans la maison de Banabakintu en train de donner des
instructions finales aux hommes, et discutant avec eux la nouvelle de
l’arrestation de Matthias et de Luc. Le parti du raid dirigé par Mbugano, le
légat royal, arrivait enfin à la maison. Mawaggali est allé à leur rencontre,
donnant ainsi à ses frères chrétiens le temps de s’échapper. “Est-ce que c’est
toi, Mawaggali ?” a crié un des membres du raid. “Oui, c’est moi,” il a
répondu, tirant en même temps sur la tête le tissu qu’il portait, pour qu’il ne
voie pas le coup mortel qui allait arriver. Le maître des tambours du roi,
Kamanyi, a plongé sa lance dans le dos de Mawaggali, qui est tombé,
mortellement blessé. Un des membres du raid a suggéré qu’on devrait le donner à
manger aux chiens. Ils ont donc attaché le martyre blessé à un arbre, et ont
lâché les chiens. De plus en plus excités par l’odeur du sang qui venait des
lacérations successives, les chiens l’ont déchiré. On dit que son agonie a duré
jusqu’au soir. A la tombée de la nuit, son corps mutilé a été détaché de
l’arbre et laissé sur la route comme avertissement aux autres chrétiens.
Lorsque les bourreaux ont quitté Mityana le jour suivant, il ne restait
pratiquement rien du corps car les hyènes avaient achevé le travail commencé
par les chiens.
Noé Mawaggali a été béatifié par le Pape Bénédicte XV en 1920, et déclaré
saint canonisé par le Pape Paul VI en 1964. Une partie de l’arbre auquel on
avait attaché le martyr a été préservé à Mityana, où un tombeau moderne
magnifique commémore les trois martyrs de Mityana.
Aylward Shorter M. Afr.
Bibliographie
J.F. Faupel, African Holocaust, the Story of the Uganda Martyrs [Holocauste
africain, l’histoire des martyrs de l’ouganda] (Nairobi, St. Paul’s
Publications Africa, 1984 [1962]).
J.P. Thoonen, Black Martyrs [Martyres noirs] (London:
Sheed and Ward, 1941).
Cet article, soumis en 2003, a été recherché et rédigé par le dr. Aylward
Shorter M. Afr., directeur émérite de Tangaza College Nairobi, université
catholique de l’Afrique de l’Est.
SOURCE :
https://dacb.org/fr/stories/uganda/mawaggali-noe/
Saint Nowa Mawaggali
Also known as
- Noah
Mawaggali
- Noe
Mawaggali
- 31 May
- 3 June as one of the Martyrs of Uganda
Profile
Member of the Ngabi clan. Convert. One of the Martyrs of Uganda who died in the Mwangan persecutions.
Born
- stabbed with a spear and torn apart by wild dogs on 31 May 1886 at Mityana, Uganda
- 29 February 1920 by Pope Benedict XV (decree of martyrdom)
SOURCE :
https://catholicsaints.info/saint-nowa-mawaggali/
Mawaggali, Noé
1850-1886
Catholic Church
Uganda
Noé (Noah) Mawaggali was one of the three Catholic martyrs of Mityana,
Uganda, the other two being Matthias Kalemba and Luke Banabakintu. Mawaggali
was the son of Musazi and a member of the Bush-Buck (Ngabi) Clan. His mother’s
name was Meme. He was born at Nkazibaku in the Ssingo County of Buganda about
1850. He was an expert potter and was appointed potter to the county chief who
greatly admired his work. After living for a time in the chief’s household,
Mawaggali became a tenant of Matthias Kalemba and built a house on his land.
Kalemba was his friend, as well as his landlord, and it was this friendship, as
well as the zeal and Christian example of Matthias, which drew Mawaggali to him
and which induced him to join the Catholic catechumenate. He was eventually
baptized on November 1st, the Feast of All Saints, 1885 in a group of
twenty-two.
Besides making pots, Mawaggali also tanned hides, and had a reputation as
a steady and industrious worker. In appearance, he was tall and slender.
Although he had not married by the time of his martyrdom, his moral behaviour
was scrupulously correct. His mother Meme was later baptized and took the name
Valeria, while his sister Munaku, who was eighteen years younger, suffered for
her faith at the time of her brother’s martyrdom. She, too, was baptized,
taking the name Maria Matilda, and lived to the age of seventy-six.
In 1881, Mawaggali was among several Catholic catechumens who attended
classes on St. Matthew’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, given by the
Anglican missionary, Alexander Mackay. When the persecution of 1886 broke out,
Mawaggali was at Mityana, some forty-five miles from the capital, but the
Christian community there was too well known to escape notice. The details of
her brother’s death were later related by Munaku. Mawaggali was in charge of
the household of Matthias Kalemba, who was away at Mengo with Luke Banabakintu.
It was the custom for the Christians of Mityana to send representatives each
week to the catechetical class at the Catholic mission. On the morning of May
31, Mawaggali went to Kawingo to see the men whose turn it was. While he was
gone, the raiders arrived.
Mawaggali was in Banabakintu’s house giving the men their final
instructions and discussing with them the news of the arrest of Matthias and
Luke. The raiding party led by Mbugano, the royal legate, closed in on the
house. Mawaggali went to meet them, thus giving his fellow Christians the
chance to escape. “Is that you Mawaggali?” called out one of the raiders. “Yes,
it is,” he replied, at the same time drawing over his head the bark cloth he
was wearing, so that he should not see the death stroke coming. Kamanyi, the
king’s chief drummer, plunged his spear into Mawaggali’s back, who fell
grievously wounded. One of the raiders suggested that Noë should be fed to the
dogs. The wounded martyr was therefore tied to a tree and dogs were set upon
him. Maddened by the scent of blood from further lacerations, they tore him to
pieces. It is said that his agony lasted until evening. At nightfall his
mangled remains were untied from the tree and left on the road as a warning to
other Christians. By the time the executioners left Mityana the following day,
there was virtually nothing left of the body. Hyenas had finished the work
begun by the dogs.
Noé Mawaggali was beatified by Pope Benedict XV in 1920, and declared a
canonized saint by Pope Paul VI in 1964. A portion of the tree to which the
martyr was tied is preserved at Mityana, where a magnificent modern shrine
commemorates all three martyrs of Mityana.
Aylward Shorter M.Afr.
Bibliography
J. F. Faupel, African Holocaust, the Story of the Uganda Martyrs (Nairobi:
St. Paul Publications Africa, 1984 [1962]).
J. P. Thoonen, *Black Martyrs * (London: Sheed and Ward, 1941).
This article, submitted in 2003, was researched and written by Dr. Aylward
Shorter M.Afr., Emeritus Principal of Tangaza College Nairobi, Catholic University
of Eastern Africa.
SOURCE :
https://dacb.org/stories/uganda/mawaggali-noe/
ST. NOE MAWAGGALI
Mawaggali’s
parentage and conversion to Catholicism
Noe Mawaggali was a son of Musaazi and a member of the Bush-Buck (Ngabi) Clan.
He was a native of Ssingo County, having been born at Nkazibaku about 1850.
Mawaggali was an expert potter, turning out all manner of articles such as
earthenware dishes, water-pots, cooking-pots, jugs, bowls and pipes. He became
by appointment potter to the county chief, who greatly admired his work, and
lived for a time in the chief’s household. Later, he built a simple house for
himself on the land of Matthias Kalemba Mulumba, a move that seems to have been
prompted partly by friendship for the Mulumba and largely by the desire to
remove himself from the pagan atmosphere of the chiefs court, because it was
about the same time that the zeal and example of Matthias won him over to the
Catholic Faith. He was not, however, baptized until the Feast of All Saints,
1885.
As well as making pots, Mawaggali used to tan hides and, unlike his fellows,
who spent most of their time visiting and taking part in the interminable
beer-parties, was known as a steady and industrious worker, quiet and
unassuming in manner. He was tall and slender, with a head that narrowed
towards the crown. He never married and was scrupulously correct in his moral
behaviour.
After the death of his father, Mawaggali took his ageing mother and his young
sister to live with him and provided for them. His mother Meeme was later
baptized, taking the name Valeria. His sister Munaku, about eighteen years his
junior, suffered cruelly and heroically in the persecution and was later, after
her freedom had been purchased by the missionaries, baptized Maria Mathilda. She
lived to the age of seventy-six, devoted to prayer and good works, and is the
source of much of the information about her brother.
Mawaggali
evangelizes in difficulty
The journey was not easy, the traveler had to go through thick and extensive
forests and jungles to cross River Mayanja twice, wade through deep, and strong
and wide currents in some places. That was not all, he would on a number of
occasions encounter wild animals, highway robbers, dangerous snakes etc.
Noe’s
last moments
It was still early in the morning and Noe Mawaggali was inside Baanabakintu’s
house, giving final instruction to the two catechumens who were going to the
capital and discussing with them the news of the arrest of Matthias and Luke.
Suddenly, the raiding party under Mbugano closed in on the house, shouting as
they did so that they were looking for Christians. Noe, walking-stick in hand,
came out from the house to meet the raiders, saying, ‘Here we are!’ and,
incidentally, giving his companions an opportunity, of which they availed themselves,
to escape through the back of the house.
‘Is that you, Mawaggali?’ called out one of the raiders.
‘Yes, it is I,’ replied the potter, at the same time drawing over his head the
bark-cloth he was wearing, so that he might not see the death-stroke that he
was expecting. It came from the spear of Kamanyi, the chief’s drummer, acting
as legate, who well knew Mawaggali to be one of the leading Christians.
Levelling his spear, Kamanyi plunged it into the martyr’s back, and Noe fell to
the ground grievously wounded. At this, one of Mbugano’s followers, attempting
to outvie his companions in cruelty, proposed: ‘Now that this Christian can no
longer defend himself, let us feed him to the dogs.’
This horrible suggestion was adopted. The wounded martyr was lashed to a tree,
and the dogs of the village set upon him, further wounds being first inflicted
upon his defenceless body so that the animals might become maddened by the
scent of blood.
Archbishop Streicher mentions reports to the effect that Mawa¬ggali’s agony
lasted until evening. Throughout the day, until con¬sciousness mercifully left
him, he could feel the savage dogs leaping at him and tearing at his flesh,
which they devoured before his eyes. At nightfall, his mangled remains were
untied from the tree and thrown on to the main road, to serve as a warning to
other Christians, and to those with leanings towards that religion.
The brutal treatment of Noe Mawaggali seems to have shocked one at least of his
executioners, men hardened to cruelty.
Noe’s sister Munaku, from her place of concealment, overheard one of them
addressing his companions: ‘What men these Christians are!’ he exclaimed. ‘How
obstinate in their religion and how hardened to pain! This Mawaggali now, we
gave him what he deserved, but, all the same, it was cruel to feed him to the
dogs.’
Then Munaku, with her mother a captive and her brother dead, decided to give
herself up. She emerged hastily from her place of concealment and ran after the
murderers of her brother, crying out, ‘I am Mawaggali’s sister. You have killed
my brother:
Kill me too!’ The men, taken aback, looked at her in astonish¬ment. ‘My brother
has died for his religion,’ insisted the girl, ‘I wish to die also. Plunge your
spears into me!’ ‘You are mad!’ answered the men, ignoring the girl’s plea and
continuing on their way.
Munaku refused to be put off. She followed the men to the square before the
county headquarters, where she found some thirty Christ¬ians in bonds,
including her own mother, Meeme, the widow and daughter of Matthias Kalemba,
the boy, Arsenius or Anselm and a boy who lodged with this family. Mbugano, the
legate, seeing in this comely young girl of eighteen an unexpected windfall,
decided to take her as part of his share of the spoils and had her tied up with
the others.
During the evening, the boy who had been captured in the Mulumba’s house, and
also Meeme, the mother of Noe and Munaku, managed to free themselves from their
bonds and escape. When Mbugano and his captives finally left Mityana, their
route led them past the spot where Noe Mawaggali’s body had been thrown, but
hyenas had completed the work begun by the dogs, and very few traces of the
body remained on the road.
Noe’s
tells his sister ‘Never to abandon Christ’
When Noe left me, he said that he was going to Kiwanga, Luke Baanabakintu’s
place, to appoint a man to go to the capital. The Christians of Ssingo were
accustomed to send one of their members every week to the mission at the
capital to attend the priest’s explanation of the catechism, so that he could
repeat what he had learnt to his fellow-Christians at home. On this occasion,
the man was also to bring back tidings of Matthias and Luke.
Next morning, Monday 31 May, after saying our morning prayers, my mother and I
went to cultivate our plot, and Noe went across the swamp to Kiwanga, about a
mile away, to see the man who was to leave that morning for the capital.
We were working in the bananary when we heard the approach of the raiders who
had come from the capital to arrest us and loot our property. They entered the
house of Matthias not far from that of Noe, and seized his wife, Kikuvwa, his
two children, Arsenius aged ten and Julia aged two or three, and a boy who only
slept there. When my mother and I heard them coming, we ran into the
elephant-grass that surrounded the bananary and tried to hide. However, they
overtook my mother and arrested her. Then they went on to the house of Luke
Baanabakintu.
I did not see with my own eyes the manner of my brother’s death, but, from my
place of concealment in the elephant-grass, I overheard some of the villagers,
who had accompanied the raiders, discussing the details as they walked along
the nearby path.
Munaku indeed kept the promise as she fought had to keep her virtue of chastity
up to the age of 76 when she breathed her last.
Noe’s
last message to his sister
Munaku indeed kept the promise as she fought had to keep her virtue of chastity
up to the age of 76 when she breathed her last.
Noe Mawaggali’s sister follows
her brother determination
Munaku had confided to the Mulumba’s widow Kikuvwa, her intention of forcing
the soldiers to kill her when they reached this spot, by refusing to go any
further. The older woman managed to dissuade her young companion from this
course of action and offered her some wise and timely advice. She explained
that although martyrdom was a noble and glorious death, God did not desire his
followers to seek it for themselves. She also warned the girl that the greatest
danger to which her captors were likely to expose her was not to her life, but
to her chastity and to her soul. Munaku pondered over this warning. She had
already promised her brother that she would not, after his death, endanger her
new-found faith by going to live with their pagan relatives. She therefore
decided that she would renounce these entirely and begged the older woman not
to reveal to anyone who they were.
What Kikuvwa had foretold soon came to pass. Mbugano de¬clared his intention of
taking Munaku as one of his wives and began to question her about her male
relatives, so that he might learn which was entitled to receive the
bride-price. The girl asserted that, since her father was dead and he had
killed her brother, she had no male relatives. She also refused to reveal the
name of her clan, de¬claring that her status was now that of a slave. As for
becoming his wife, she would rather die. Greatly offended by this rejection,
Mbugano determined to break the spirit of this courageous girl.
On reaching the capital, Mbugano went to report to the Chan¬cellor the success
of his mission.
The boy Arsenius escaped and took refuge at the Catholic mission, and
Mawaggali’s sister, Munaku, was taken by Mbugano to his home in Kyaggwe County,
where heavy stocks were fastened to both her feet. For a full month he tried
every means to bend her to his will. After a few days in the stocks, all the
skin had gone from the girl’s ankles and raw wounds encircled her legs.
Mbugano’s other women, moved with pity, wished to pack the apertures of the
stocks with soft fibres to lessen the friction, but their master would not
allow it. ‘Her feet will be cared for,’ he said, ‘and even freed entirely, when
she has come to her senses.’ He resorted also to daily beatings and threats to
sell her to the Arab slave-traders but nothing he could do was able to break
down her resistance.
Finally, baffled by Munaku’s constancy, Mbugano decided to cut his losses.
Professing pity and admiration for his victim, he offered Pere Lourdel the
chance to redeem her. The priest was de¬lighted and a bargain was struck. That
same night, July 1886, in exchange for a gun and some ammunition, Mbugano
handed the girl over to the care of the mission.
Pere Lourdel decided that the heroic profession of faith made by this young catechumen
merited her exemption from the customary four years’ period of probation before
baptism. She was therefore given an intensive course of instruction and some
weeks later, on 22 August, baptized and given the name Maria-Mathilda. She
became a religious (Sister)
Munyonyo Martyrs' Shrine
SOURCE :
http://www.munyonyo-shrine.ug/martyrs/other-uganda-martyrs/st-noe-mawaggali/
Saint Noa Mawaggali Cathedral, Mityana, Uganda.
San Noè Mawaggali Martire
† Mityana, Uganda, 31 maggio 1886
Martirologio Romano: In località Mityana in Uganda, san Noè Mawaggali,
martire, che fu domestico del re: rifiutando impavidamente di cercare la fuga
durante la persecuzione, offrì spontaneamente il petto alle lance dei soldati
e, dopo esserne stato trafitto, fu appeso ad un albero, finché rese lo spirito
per Cristo.
Fece un certo scalpore, nel 1920, la beatificazione
da parte di Papa Benedetto XV di ventidue martiri di origine ugandese, forse
perché allora, sicuramente più di ora, la gloria degli altari era legata a
determinati canoni di razza, lingua e cultura. In effetti, si trattava dei
primi sub-sahariani (dell’”Africa nera”, tanto per intenderci) ad essere
riconosciuti martiri e, in quanto tali, venerati dalla Chiesa cattolica.
La loro vicenda terrena si svolge sotto il regno di Mwanga, un giovane re che,
pur avendo frequentato la scuola dei missionari (i cosiddetti “Padri Bianchi”
del Cardinal Lavigerie) non è riuscito ad imparare né a leggere né a scrivere
perché “testardo, indocile e incapace di concentrazione”. Certi suoi
atteggiamenti fanno dubitare che sia nel pieno possesso delle sue facoltà
mentali ed inoltre, da mercanti bianchi venuti dal nord, ha imparato quanto di
peggio questi abitualmente facevano: fumare hascisc, bere alcool in gran
quantità e abbandonarsi a pratiche omosessuali. Per queste ultime, si costruisce
un fornitissimo harem costituito da paggi, servi e figli dei nobili della sua
corte.
Sostenuto all’inizio del suo regno dai cristiani (cattolici e anglicani) che
fanno insieme a lui fronte comune contro la tirannia del re musulmano Kalema,
ben presto re Mwanga vede nel cristianesimo il maggior pericolo per le
tradizioni tribali ed il maggior ostacolo per le sue dissolutezze. A sobillarlo
contro i cristiani sono soprattutto gli stregoni e i feticisti, che vedono
compromesso il loro ruolo ed il loro potere e così, nel 1885, ha inizio
un’accesa persecuzione, la cui prima illustre vittima è il vescovo anglicano
Hannington, ma che annovera almeno altri 200 giovani uccisi per la fede.
Il 15 novembre 1885 Mwanga fa decapitare il maestro dei paggi e prefetto della
sala reale. La sua colpa maggiore? Essere cattolico e per di più catechista,
aver rimproverato al re l’uccisione del vescovo anglicano e aver difeso a più
riprese i giovani paggi dalle “avances” sessuali del re. Giuseppe Mkasa
Balikuddembè apparteneva al clan Kayozi ed ha appena 25 anni.
Viene sostituito nel prestigioso incarico da Carlo Lwanga, del clan Ngabi, sul
quale si concentrano subito le attenzioni morbose del re. Anche Lwanga, però,
ha il “difetto” di essere cattolico; per di più, in quel periodo burrascoso in
cui i missionari sono messi al bando, assume una funzione di “leader” e
sostiene la fede dei neoconvertiti.
Il 25 maggio 1886 viene condannato a morte insieme ad un gruppo di cristiani e
quattro catecumeni, che nella notte riesce a battezzare segretamente; il più
giovane, Kizito, del clan Mmamba, ha appena 14 anni. Il 26 maggio vemgono
uccisi Andrea Kaggwa, capo dei suonatori del re e suo familiare, che si era
dimostrato particolarmente generoso e coraggioso durante un’epidemia, e Dionigi
Ssebuggwawo.
Si dispone il trasferimento degli altri da Munyonyo, dove c’era il palazzo
reale in cui erano stati condannati, a Namugongo, luogo delle esecuzioni
capitali: una “via crucis” di 27 miglia, percorsa in otto giorni, tra le
pressioni dei parenti che li spingono ad abiurare la fede e le violenze dei
soldati. Qualcuno viene ucciso lungo la strada: il 26 maggio viene trafitto da
un colpo di lancia Ponziano Ngondwe, del clan Nnyonyi Nnyange, paggio reale,
che aveva ricevuto il battesimo mentre già infuriava la persecuzione e per
questo era stato immediatamente arrestato; il paggio reale Atanasio
Bazzekuketta, del clan Nkima, viene martirizzato il 27 maggio.
Alcune ore dopo cade trafitto dalle lance dei soldati il servo del re Gonzaga
Gonga del clan Mpologoma, seguito poco dopo da Mattia Mulumba del clan Lugane,
elevato al rango di “giudice”, cinquantenne, da appena tre anni convertito al
cattolicesimo.
Il 31 maggio viene inchiodato ad un albero con le lance dei soldati e quindi
impiccato Noè Mawaggali, un altro servo del re, del clan Ngabi.
Il 3 giugno, sulla collina di Namugongo, vengono arsi vivi 31 cristiani: oltre
ad alcuni anglicani, il gruppo di tredici cattolici che fa capo a Carlo Lwanga,
il quale aveva promesso al giovanissimo Kizito: “Io ti prenderò per mano, se
dobbiamo morire per Gesù moriremo insieme, mano nella mano”. Il gruppo di
questi martiri è costituito inoltre da: Luca Baanabakintu, Gyaviira Musoke e
Mbaga Tuzinde, tutti del clan Mmamba; Giacomo Buuzabalyawo, figlio del
tessitore reale e appartenente al clan Ngeye; Ambrogio Kibuuka, del clan Lugane
e Anatolio Kiriggwajjo, guardiano delle mandrie del re; dal cameriere del re,
Mukasa Kiriwawanvu e dal guardiano delle mandrie del re, Adolofo Mukasa Ludico,
del clan Ba’Toro; dal sarto reale Mugagga Lubowa, del clan Ngo, da Achilleo
Kiwanuka (clan Lugave) e da Bruno Sserunkuuma (clan Ndiga).
Chi assiste all’esecuzione è impressionato dal sentirli pregare fino alla fine,
senza un gemito. E’ un martirio che non spegne la fede in Uganda, anzi diventa
seme di tantissime conversioni, come profeticamente aveva intuito Bruno
Sserunkuuma poco prima di subire il martirio “Una fonte che ha molte sorgenti
non si inaridirà mai; quando noi non ci saremo più altri verranno dopo di noi”.
La serie dei martiri cattolici elevati alla gloria degli altari si chiude il 27
gennaio 1887 con l’uccisione del servitore del re, Giovanni Maria Musei, che
spontaneamente confessò la sua fede davanti al primo ministro di re Mwanga e
per questo motivo venne immediatamente decapitato.
Carlo Lwanga con i suoi 21 giovani compagni è stato canonizzato da Paolo VI nel
1964 e sul luogo del suo martirio oggi è stato edificato un magnifico
santuario; a poca distanza, un altro santuario protestante ricorda i cristiani
dell’altra confessione, martirizzati insieme a Carlo Lwanga. Da ricordare che
insieme ai cristiani furono martirizzati anche alcuni musulmani: gli uni e gli
altri avevano riconosciuto e testimoniato con il sangue che “Katonda” (cioè il
Dio supremo dei loro antenati) era lo stesso Dio al quale si riferiscono sia la
Bibbia che il Corano.
Autore: Gianpiero Pettiti
