Namirembe Cathedral

Namirembe Cathedral: Cathedral of Saint Paul Namirembe, also known as Mengo Hill, is one of the seven hills that once comprised Kampala. It is home to Namirembe Cathedral. The red brick dome and gorgeous stained glasses complete the remarkable traditional Western architecture. The first of its sort in Ugandan history, it was established in 1890 and serves as both the diocesan cathedral for Namirembe Diocese and the provincial cathedral of the Church of Uganda.

Between 1919 to 1967, the cathedral was the provincial cathedral of the Anglican Communion of Uganda. In the 1960s, the church’s offices were relocated to All Saints inn Nakasero, before returning to Namirembe.

Uganda is a nation steeped in spirituality. In April 1875, British journalist and adventurer Henry Stanley encountered King Mutesa, the Kabaka (king) of Buganda, a tribe in central Uganda. King Mutesa became so enthralled with Christianity after Stanley told him the basic story of Christianity that he urged Stanley to write a letter to Queen Victoria of England requesting missionaries. On November 15, 1875, the letter appeared in the English newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

Two years later, in 1877, eight missionaries from the Church Missionary Society arrived in Uganda, bringing Christianity to the country. At first, the Christian faith was exclusively preached to the immediate members of King Mutesa’s (Kabaka’s) court in Buganda.

Northeastern Rwanda saw the start of the East African Revival in June 1936. (Uganda has a southwest border with Rwanda.) It quickly expanded to Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, Uganda, and Zaire. It had an impact on villages, churches, and mission schools. The Revival changed lives, brought about profound repentance, and is still going strong today. It contributed to the emergence of a fresh passion for fervent holiness in African Christianity. It took on demonic strongholds and started preparing churches to handle the atrocities of war and massacres that broke out in later years.

In addition to King Mwanga’s victims in 1886, the military dictator Idi Amin’s martyrs in the 1970s also had Islamic sympathies. The Christian tenacity in the face of severe suffering and death proved the Namugongo martyrs’ ongoing impact as well as the profound, essential, and enduring faith of so many people who had been impacted by the East African Revival. Janani Luwum, the Archbishop of the (Anglican) Church of Uganda, was one of the thousands of new victims, both Roman Catholic and Anglican.

With its long and solid spiritual heritage, the Church of Uganda has provided and still provides people all over the world with a vibrant and active faith. This is already ingrained in Ugandan Anglican history. The first person to bring the gospel to the people of Eastern Congo was Canon Apollo Kivebulaya in 1893. World leaders have witnessed in front of Ugandans like William and Sala Nagenda, Erica Sabiiti, Festo Kivengere, Janani Luwum, John Wilson, Misaeri Kauma, Edward Muhima, and the present Archbishop, Henry Luke Orombi. John Sentamu, an Anglican from Uganda, was ordained as a bishop in the Church of England in 1996. He currently serves as the Archbishop of York after having previously served as the Bishop of Birmingham.

The remains of Bishop Hannington, who was killed in October 1885, shortly before the Luganda printing of the Gospel of Matthew, and the cooks who started Mengo Hospital are housed inside this church. Along with 103 other active-duty clergies, including three deaf and seven women, the diocese is led by a bishop, Rt Rev Wilberforce Kityo Luwalira. For a true African worship, attend services at 6:30 or 8:30 or 10:00 a.m. for English and Luganda, respectively.