Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe (1860 – 15 November 1885) was a

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 south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

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 ...

and the majordomo at the court of

Mwanga II of Buganda 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 ...

, recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. The Missionaries of Our Lady of Africa came to Uganda in 1879. Balikuddembe was enrolled as a catechumen in the following year and along with Andrew Kaggwa, was baptized by Père Simon Lourdel M.Afr. (Fr. Mapera) on 30 April 1882. Balikuddembe took the baptismal name of "Joseph". From November 1882 to July 1885 the Catholic missionaries, for reasons of security, abandoned the Ugandan mission and re-located temporarily to the southern end of Lake Victoria. In the absence of the missionaries, Balikuddembe became leader of the Christians. King Mutesa was succeeded by his eighteen-year-old son, Danieri Mwanga II. Early in his reign, the new king began to crack down on Christian missionaries and converts in his country, and executed the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Anglican bishop

James Hannington James Hannington (3 September 1847 – 29 October 1885) was an English Anglican missionary and martyr. He was the first Anglican bishop of East Africa. Early life Hannington was born on 3 September 1847 at Hurstpierpoint in Sussex, England, ...

and his companions on October 29, 1885, ignoring Balikuddembe's pleas to spare the bishop. Godfrey Muwonge attributes this to the influence of Mwanga's Katikkiro (Prime Minister) Mukasa, who sought to control the spread of Christianity in Buganda by eliminating its teachers."Katikkiro Mukasa Was Behind Many “Mwanga II Executions”, ''Buganda Watch'', 21 May 2015
/ref> Another reason that Mwanga killed Balikuddembe was because he spoke out against Mwanga's homosexual practices. As catechumens, the recent converts could no longer engage in activities which they saw as unchristian. Mwanga saw this as insubordination.
As Mwanga's senior adviser, Balikuddembe spoke against the killing of the bishop. Mwanga viewed this a disrespectful. After a night-long interview the king condemned Balikuddembe to death. Muwonge says that the Katikkiro Musaka saw to it that the order was carried out before the king could change his mind. On 15 November 1885 Balikuddembe was taken to a place near the Nakivubo river where he was beheaded and his body thrown onto a pile of burning firewood. His duties were assumed by the young catechist Charles Lwanga.

Veneration

Balikuddembe is remembered as first of the

Martyrs of Uganda 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 Mwa ...

and is the patron of politicians and chiefs. St. Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe Parish is located in Kisoga.

References

External links

Joseph Mukasa bioThe Uganda Martyrs from the August 2008 issue of ''The Word Among Us'' magazineJoseph Mukasa's profile from UgandaMartyrsShrine.org
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mukasa, Joseph 1860 births 1885 deaths 19th-century Christian saints 19th-century executions by Uganda 19th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Roman Catholic missionaries in Uganda Converts to Roman Catholicism from pagan religions Executed Ugandan people People executed by Buganda Christian martyrs executed by decapitation Ugandan Roman Catholic missionaries Ugandan Roman Catholic saints People executed by Uganda by decapitation