Adolphus Ludigo-Mkasa, also known as Adolofu Mukasa Ludigo (c. 1861 – June 3, 1886), was a

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

killed for his faith.

Life

Ludigo-Mkasa was a Munyoro from

Mwenge Mwenge is a county of the Kyenjojo district in Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the ...

in the western part of the country. At a young age, he was abducted by Baganda raiders and became a companion of

Charles Lwanga Charles Lwanga (Luganda: Kaloli Lwanga; 1 January 18603 June 1886) was a Ugandan convert to the Catholic Church who was martyred with a group of his peers and is revered as a saint by both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. A memb ...

at court. Ludigo-Mkasa was put in charge of the

Kabaka the kabaka Palace in kireka Kabaka is the title of the king of the Kingdom of Buganda.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, According to the traditions of the Baganda they are ruled by two kings, one spiritual and ...

’s gardens. Protestant missionaries began arriving in Buganda in 1877, followed two years later by the Catholic

Missionaries of Africa , image = Cardinal Lavigerie.jpg , caption = Charles Lavigerie , abbreviation = M.Afr. , nickname = White Fathers , formation = , founder = Archbishop Charles-Martial Allem ...

. King

Muteesa I Muteesa (variably spelled Mutesa or Mutessa) may refer to: * Muteesa I of Buganda, the 30th Kabaka of Buganda who reigned between 1856 and 1884. * Muteesa II of Buganda, the 36th Kabaka of Buganda who reigned between 1939 and 1969. He also wa ...

welcomed the missionaries and played off the Catholics, Anglicans, and the Moslem traders, seeming to favor first one, then another, for political gain. The court was at Nabulagala, with a Catholic mission nearby at Kasubi. It was there that Ludigo-Mkasa began to take religious instruction around 1881. Young King

Mwanga II Danieri Basammula-Ekkere Mwanga II Mukasa (1868 – 8 May 1903)D. A. Low''Fabrication of Empire: The British and the Uganda Kingdoms, 1890-1902'' Cambridge University Press, 2009, p. 210, note 196. was Kabaka of Buganda from 1884 until 1888 and fro ...

succeeded to the throne in 1884 at the age of about sixteen. He came to see the Christians as a threat, partly due to German incursions on the coast, and because the Christians encouraged the pages in his court to resist his advances. Adolphus received his baptism on November 17, 1885. King Mwanga demanded that Christian converts abandon their new faith and executed many Anglicans and Catholics who did not. Adolphus was one of many

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

put to death by the king between 1885 and 1887. He was burnt alive on the 3rd of June 1886 in Namugongo at the age of about twenty-five. His day of martyrdom, June 3, is remembered as the

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

of the

Uganda Martyrs The Uganda Martyrs are a group of 22 Catholic and 23 Anglican converts to Christianity in the historical kingdom of Buganda, now part of Uganda, who were executed between 31 January 1885 and 27 January 1887. They were killed on orders of Mwang ...

References

External links

Adolphus Ludigo-Mukasa bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludigo-Mukasa, Adolphus 1861 births 1886 deaths 19th-century Christian saints 19th-century executions by Uganda 19th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Converts to Roman Catholicism from pagan religions Executed Ugandan people People executed by Buganda People executed by Uganda by burning Ugandan Roman Catholic saints