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The Catholic Church in Uganda is planning for a brand new museum that will honor the sacrifices of the Ugandan Martyrs. The announcement comes as the Church is commemorating the 60th anniversary of their canonization in 2024.
According to the Independent, the museum will be located at the Uganda Martyrs University, in Nkozi. Fr. Anthony Musuubire, the Kampala Archdiocesan Archivist, noted that the museum will be distinctly focused on the Catholic elements of the Ugandan Martyrs story. This is significant because Uganda already has a museum dedicated to the martyrs, but it is run by Anglicans.
In 2015, the Anglican Church opened its Ugandan Martyrs Museum in Namugongo, at the site in which the 45 Christian martyrs – 22 Anglican and 23 Catholic – were laid to rest. Known for its vivid artistic displays that depict the martyr’s deaths in harrowing detail, it has been well attended over the last decade. It even drew a visit from Pope Francis during his 2015 papal visit to Uganda.
While it is a fine museum, Catholics have expressed that they do not feel that the Anglicans have captured the full picture of the Ugandan Martyrs’ story. The upcoming Catholic-focused museum is intended to supplement the Anglican museum with updated information and memorabilia related to the martyrs and the saints, including relics.
The Ugandan Martyrs University has expressed that it hopes that its museum will become the preeminent authority on the Ugandan Martyrs. A representative of the university noted that the school intends to use the museum as a springboard to promote the martyrs’ story worldwide.
Dr. David Tshimba, who recently curated an exhibition of first-class relics of the martyrs in honor of the 60th anniversary, echoed the call for the Ugandan Martyrs to be honored globally. He suggested that popularizing the Ugandan Martyrs’ story could help Uganda become a central place of Catholic pilgrimage:
“Namugongo is currently ranked as the second-largest Christian pilgrimage event in the world, after Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, if papal visits are excluded. In Africa, it is the second-largest religious event, following the Grand Magal of Touba in Senegal. Given the massive attendance at these other two sites from people of all backgrounds, Uganda still has a long way to go in terms of drawing similar crowds,” Dr. Tshimba noted.
