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MARTYRDOM OF ARCHBISHOP

From Audrey Whitefield <a.whitefield@quest.org.uk>
Date 27 Feb 1997 02:52:51
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Date: Sat, 08 Feb 1997 19:56:57 +0000
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Feb. 7, 1997 
ANGLCAN COMMUNION NEWS SERVICE
Canon Jim Rosenthal, Director of Communications
Anglican Communion Office
London, England

[97.2.1.7]

FEATURES SERVICE

The Anglican Communion Office receives most of the diocesan papers from
around the world.  We use these as resource material for ACNS and
Anglican
World magazine but we often find features which we know will be of
interest
to other parts of the Communion but which we are unable to reproduce in
Anglican World.  With the advent of this new weekly ACNS we hope to be
able
to post up features which we believe will be of interest to other
Provinces.
The views and opinions expressed in these articles may not be those of
the
Anglican Communion Office.  Please credit the author, newspaper or
magazine
and ACNS if you use this service. We would also be grateful to know
whether
you find this service helpful.

20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MARTYRDOM OF ARCHBISHOP JANANI LUWUM OF UGANDA

(ACNS) February 16th is the 20th anniversary of the martyrdom of
Archbishop Janani
Luwum of Uganda. The Church in Uganda and other Churches around the
Communion will be commemorating this special anniversary.

Janani Luwum was born in 1922 at Mucwini in East Acholi in Uganda.  His
father was a convert to Christianity.  As a boy  Janani spent his time
herding the family's cattle, goats and sheep.  His father could not
afford
for him to go to school until he was 10 but then Janani worked hard and
went on to Gulu High School and then on to Boroboro Teacher Training.
Janani taught in a primary school before he was converted in 1948. He
became very active in the East African revival movement. First he
studied
to be a lay reader, and then a deacon.  He was priested in 1956. Early
on
his leadership skills became apparent and he was chosen to do a one year
course at St Augustine's College in Canterbury, UK. After working in
parish
work and at Buwalasi Theological College he returned to Britain to study
at
the London College of Divinity, returning to Uganda to become Principal
of
Buwalasi.  In 1966 he became Provincial Secretary and in 1969 he was
consecrated bishop of Northern Uganda.

In 1974 Janani Luwum he became Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and
Boga-Zaire. Three years previously Colonel Idi Amin had overthrown the
Government of Uganda and established a military dictatorship. Amin's
regime
became infamous around the world. Thousands of people were arrested,
beaten, imprisoned without trial and  killed. Archbishop Luwum often
went
personally to the office of the dreaded State Research Bureau to help
secure the release of prisoners.

Tension between Church and state worsened in 1976.  Religious leaders,
including Archbishop Luwum, met to discuss the deteriorating situation
and
asked for an interview with Idi Amin to share their concern. The
President
reprimanded the Archbishop. But Archbishop Luwum continued to attend
Government functions. One of his critics accused him of being on the
Government side and he replied:"I face daily being picked up by the
soldiers.  While the opportunity is there I preach the Gospel with all
my
might, and my conscience is clear before God that I have not sided with
the
present Government which is utterly self-seeking.  I have been
threatened
many times.  Whenever I have the opportunity I have told the President
the
things the churches disapprove of.  God is my witness."

 On 5 February 1977 the Archbishop's house was raided by soldiers who
said
they had been ordered to look for arms.  On 8 February the Archbishop
and
nearly all the Ugandan bishops met and drafted a letter of protest to
the
President and asked to see him. A week later, on 16 February, the
Archbishop and six bishops were publicly arraigned in a show trial and
were
accused of smuggling arms.  Archbishop Luwum was not allowed to reply,
but
shook his head in denial.  The President concluded by asking the
crowd:"What shall we do with these traitors?" The soldiers replied "Kill
him now".The Archbishop was separated from his bishops.  As he was taken
away Archbishop Luwum turned to his brother bishops and said:"Do not be
afraid. I see God's hand in this."

The next morning it was announced that Archbishop Luwum had been killed
in
a car crash.  The truth was that he had been shot because he had stood
up
to President Amin and his Government. The Archbishop was killed just a
few
months before the centenary celebrations of the Church of Uganda, an
anniversary which marked the martyrdom of Anglicans in Uganda nearly a
century before. At a memorial service Janani Luwum was proclaimed the
first
martyr of the Church of Uganda's second century.

c Nicola Currie

The Church Mission Society have produced a seven page information paper
on
Archbishop Luwum which is available from them for the cost of postage at
Partnership House, 157 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8UU, UK. This paper is
one
of the sources used in the feature above.
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