The Martyrs’ Museum to be Set Up at UMU ,  Catholic Church plans

The Catholic Church is set to establish a historical museum for the Uganda Martyrs, aimed at becoming a central repository for information and artifacts related to their martyrdom.

The museum will be situated at Uganda Martrys University (UMU) in Kampala.

According to Prof. Patrick Edrin Kyamamywa, Vice Chancellor of the University, emphasized that the new museum will encompass all aspects related to the martyrs, including relics, scholarly materials, and artworks among others.

Prof. Kyamamywa expressed the university’s ambition for the museum to position UMU established in honor of the martyrs as the foremost authority on the Uganda Martyrs. Additionally, the university aims to use the museum to promote the martyrs’ story globally.

The museum comes at a time when the Catholic Church is commemorating the 60th anniversary of the canonization of the Uganda Martyrs.

This was unveiled during the launch of the God and Caesar: A Historical Exhibition Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Uganda Martyrs by Tourism Minister, Tom Butime at UMU Lubaga Campus.

This milestone was celebrated with various events, including a historical exhibition of religious materials including relics fragments of the remains of St. Charles Karooli Lwanga and St. Matthias Mulumba.

The exhibits are designed to illustrate the harrowing events of how the martyrs met their deaths and were burned at Namugongo.

According to the Minister, there’s a need to preserve Uganda’s historical sites and monuments, like the Uganda Martyrs Catholic shrine Namugongo which attracts millions of pilgrims annually to celebrate Uganda’s history, and the cultural context surrounding their martyrdom.

Relics of the two martyrs

Rev. Fr. Anthony Musuubire, the Kampala Archdiocesan Archivist, said that the museum will be situated at Uganda Martyrs University in Nkozi, just a few kilometers from the Kayabwe equator. He emphasized that this museum will have a distinctly Catholic focus.

Dr. David Tshimba, the curator of the exhibition, observed that the story of the martyrs has not been adequately shared with the world and locals, despite its richness and potential to promote faith-based tourism.

Dr Tshimba further said that neither the Church nor the government has fully honored the martyrs or leveraged Martyrs’ Day on June 3 to attract larger audiences.

Relics arrival At Munyonyo Martyrs minor basilica

“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.

The Anglican Church inaugurated its museum in 2015 at the site in Namugongo where the Uganda Martyrs were buried.

This museum recounts the tragic story of the 45 young Christian converts (22 Anglican and 23 Catholic) who were martyred in Namugongo.