By Jacinta W. Odongo, Media Officer, Uganda Episcopal Conference
The Diocese of Hoima has selected over 400 choir members to sing during the 2017 Uganda Martyrs Day celebration due June 3 at Namugongo Catholic Shrine.
The choir members have been drawn from all the parishes in the three vicariates of the diocese which includes Hoima, Kibale and Masindi. Hoima Diocese will animate the 2017 Uganda Martyrs celebration on behalf of Mbarara Ecclesiastical province.
“People have been drawn from every parish that is within the Diocese to strengthen our liturgical music performance,” Aliba said adding “For the hymns, we took into consideration three things including the universality of the Church, the history of the Martyrdom of the Uganda Martyrs and our local unique ‘Banyooro’ Culture. We want all the pilgrims to participate and pray through singing while appreciating our culture.”
He also said that the Diocese has set up six training centers where the choir members meet in different groups for rehearsals ahead of the June 3 celebrations. “We have divided the choir into six different groups depending with the location of the training centers. We selected one chief choir master to move around all these training points so as to assist them during the rehearsals. But, with time they will all be gathering at once for a collective rehearsal,” he explained.
The annual celebration commemorates the heroic faith of the 45 Martyrs, both Catholic and Anglican, who were burnt to death following the orders of Kabaka Mwanga II, the then king of Buganda between 1885 and 1887. Twenty-two Catholic Martyrs were beatified on June 6, 1920, by Pope Benedict XV, and on October 18 1964, Pope Paul VI canonized them as Saints.
In addition to the 22 Catholic Martyrs, there are two Catechists from Paimol: Blessed Daudi Okello and Blessed Jildo Irwa who were killed in 1918. The two Catechists were beatified by St. Pope John Paul II on October 20, 2002.
Of the 22 Martyrs who were canonized, two of them, St. Andrew Kaggwa and St. Anatoli Kiriggwajjo hail from Hoima Diocese.
Meanwhile, the Diocese has also announced the theme for the 2017 celebrations as, “Stand Firm in the Faith That You Have Been Taught (Colossians 2:7).”
The Uganda Martyrs day celebration usually attracts millions of pilgrims from across the world. Hoima Diocese last presided over the Martyrs Day event in 2001.
