• Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Login
Watchdog Uganda
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
    • National
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Motorsport
  • Business
    • Agriculture
    • Finance
    • RealEstate
    • Technology
  • Op-Ed
  • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
    • Showbiz
    • Big Brother Naija Dairy
  • People
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Stars
    • Politicians
  • Special Report
    • Education
  • Travel
  • Video
  • Luganda
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • National
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Motorsport
  • Business
    • Agriculture
    • Finance
    • RealEstate
    • Technology
  • Op-Ed
  • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
    • Showbiz
    • Big Brother Naija Dairy
  • People
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Stars
    • Politicians
  • Special Report
    • Education
  • Travel
  • Video
  • Luganda
No Result
View All Result
Watchdog Uganda
No Result
View All Result

Museveni to attend ‘White Fathers’ fete as they mark 150-years of preaching in Africa

Mike Ssegawa by Mike Ssegawa
3 years ago
in News
13 1
ShareTweetSendShare

Uganda president Yoweri Museveni will on Sunday grace the celebrations of 150 years since the founding of the Catholic missionary society which evangelized Uganda.

Last Wednesday, Uganda’s president received a delegation of missionaries led by Kampala archbishop Dr Cyprian Kizito Lwanga. The delegation had the superior general of the Missionaries of Africa, Fr Stanley Lubango, the provincial superior of Eastern Africa province Fr Aloysius Ssekamatte, and two assistants to the superior general, including Fr Francis Burns the First assistant to the superior general.

Museveni to attend ‘White Fathers’ fete as they mark 150-years of preaching in Africa
Museveni meets Arch Bishop and Team

The importance of the meeting might have passed many people but significantly it brings back memories of the first missionaries who started Catholicism in Uganda back in 1879.

On that fateful day French clerics Fr Simeon Lourdel better known as Mapera and his assistant Br Amans Delmas, had arrived in the kingdom of Buganda ruled by the clever kabaka, Mutesa I. They landed in Kigungu in Entebbe on February 17, 1879, a few kilometres from where the current State House seats and where president Museveni met the successors of Fr Mapera. Mutesa would grant the missionaries permission to start mission in his kingdom, just three days after officially meeting them. He also gave the canoes to bring their colleagues into his country.

Museveni to attend ‘White Fathers’ fete as they mark 150-years of preaching in Africa
Museveni meets Arch Bishop and Team

Some of the converts of these White Fathers, now known as Missionaries of Africa, are celebrated today as Uganda Martyrs, giving Uganda national pride and international acclaim. Till today, the remains of the first White Fathers;  Fr. Lourdel, Fr. Barbot and Br. Amans are kept in the sacristy of the Archbishop’s Chapelin Rubaga.

This year, the Missionaries of Africa are celebrating 150 years since they were founded by Cardinal Charles Lavigerie of Algiers in 1868, with a mission to evangelize sub-Saharan Africa.

Cardinal Lavigerie, a French prelate wanted local Africans to be christianised, and he formed a community of preachers wearing a traditional Arab dress in Algiers, a white cassock with a red fez. The missionaries of Africa were in campaigning against slavery in the 19th century, one of the greatest evils in human history. The founder himself, Cardinal Lavigerie was a strong voice against slave trade in Europe and widely spoke against it.

Today, there are over 1500 priests, brothers and sisters and work in 22 African countries.

On 8th December 2019, a catholic calendar Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, Queen of Africa, the Missionaries of Africa will commemorate the 150th anniversary their foundation in Namugongo. The superior general of the congregation is in the country for the celebrations which have taken three years in preparation.

Museveni to attend ‘White Fathers’ fete as they mark 150-years of preaching in Africa
Museveni meets Arch Bishop and Team

The last Wednesday meeting at State House, saw President Museveni confirming his attendance for the celebrations in Namugongo, a special place in the history of catholic religion in Uganda.

It is almost unthinkable to talk about the evangelisation of Uganda and Africa at large without mentioning the Missionaries of Africa. The clerics not only pioneered Catholic evangelism in Uganda but also offered holistic empowerment especially in areas of education and health.

150 years ago, on the 18 October 1868, the first novitiate of the Missionaries of Africa opened its doors at Rostan House in Ben-Aknoun on the heights of El Biar in Algeria.


Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at editorial@watchdoguganda.com

Share3Tweet2SendShare

Related Posts

Allan Bamuha
News

ALLAN BAMUHA: PDM & other development programs set to move Uganda to a First World Country

3rd July 2022 at 17:10
Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II during his Birthday run 2022
National

Abstinence is the most effective way to fight HIV/AIDS- Kabaka Mutebi

3rd July 2022 at 14:13
The Toyota Prado, the late Yesse Mubangizi Kamanyire was travelling in
National

Grief as Nile High School Mukono founder dies in Masaka Road accident

3rd July 2022 at 12:19
Next Post

African Union warns Uganda's Electoral Commission against militarizing elections

Follow us on Facebook

Trending Posts

  • The late Samuel Majwega

    MK Publishers Proprietor Majwega dies from USA where he had gone to attend daughter’s graduation ceremony

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • LATEST LIST: New salary structure for all Ugandan civil servants starting July 2021

    838 shares
    Share 335 Tweet 210
  • First Son Muhoozi reveals what he will do to his enemies trying to disorganise his relationship with President Museveni 

    25 shares
    Share 10 Tweet 6
  • Ugandans on Social Media up in the arms over judicial officers’ incompetence, misconduct 

    11 shares
    Share 4 Tweet 3
  • Businessman Sudhir puts his magnificent One-10 Apartments up for sale

    34 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

Follow us on Twitter

Facebook Twitter

Contact Information

Watchdog Uganda is a portal for solution journalism, trending news plus cutting edge commentaries in the fields of politics, security, business, tourism, entertainment, technology, agriculture, climate change, environment, public health et al. We also give preference to Ugandan community news and topical discussions. The portal also publishes community news and topical discussions.

Plot 23, Yusuf Lule Road
PO Box 7661 Kampala, Uganda
Office Line: +256 777 286 815
Email: editorial@watchdoguganda.com
To Advertise:Click here

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on Facebook

© 2022 Watchdog Uganda

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • National
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Motorsport
  • Business
    • Agriculture
    • Finance
    • RealEstate
    • Technology
  • Op-Ed
  • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
    • Showbiz
    • Big Brother Naija Dairy
  • People
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Stars
    • Politicians
  • Special Report
    • Education
  • Travel
  • Video
  • Luganda

© 2022 Watchdog Uganda

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Posting....