A pilgrim touches holy art at Namugongo Martyrs' site in Uganda. The Uganda Martyrs' shrines — about 15 minutes drive from Kampala, the site of the executions between 1885 and 1887 — of 45 men (23 Anglican and 22 Catholic) men who refused to renounce their new found Christian faith has in the recent grown into a big attraction for Christian pilgrims. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
The Uganda Martyrs' shrines at Namugongo — about 15 minutes drive from Kampala, the site of the executions between 1885 and 1887 — of 45 men (23 Anglican and 22 Catholic) men who refused to renounce their new found Christian faith has in the recent grown into a big attraction for Christian pilgrims.
Religious pilgrimages have been around for as long as religion has existed, and today, individuals or groups fundraise or sacrifice family resources for them, the same way they plan for holidays.
If harnessed, therefore, religious tourism has the potential to boost tourist numbers and become a big forex earner for governments. Israel, the Vatican and Saudi Arabia are good examples of top pilgrim destinations.
The Uganda Martyrs' shrines at Namugongo — about 15 minutes drive from Kampala, the site of the executions between 1885 and 1887 — of 45 men (23 Anglican and 22 Catholic) men who refused to renounce their new found Christian faith has in the recent grown into a big attraction for Christian pilgrims.
Official estimates put the number of annual pilgrims to the Catholic and the Anglican shrines — marked on Martyrs' Day on June 3 — within a kilometre of one another at between two million and 2.5 million.
Majority of the visitors are local people, who come on foot, by bus and lorries from all over Uganda. Those with the bigger picture in mind are excited by the growing number of arrivals from beyond the community’s borders though at 2.5 million visitors in a good year, the Namugongo shrines pale in comparison with the world’s top 10 religious pilgrimage sites.
“Our estimate is not just based on the number of those coming for purely religious purposes; there are those who just come to be close to the religious sites,” said Uganda police spokesperson Fred Enanga.
“So we make our estimates based on the entire corridor from Kireka where we put the perimeter for the Namugongo festivities all the way through to the Anglican shrine,” he said. That covers an area of slightly over four kilometres.
Recently authorities here have been looking with keen interest at the growing number of foreign pilgrims. Actual numbers are still not easy to come by but estimates put them at between 10,000 and 20,000 annually.
The majority are from neighbouring countries especially the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and South Sudan. Most of them arrive in the country by bus.
Kenyan and Tanzanian pilgrims have also been on the rise, according to official figures that put their numbers at 8,200 for this year’s Martyr’s Day events.
According to Tosh Bwana, a member of the Uganda Episcopal Conference organising committee for the Martyrs' Day events, a number of Nigerians, Ghanaians and South Africans also made the pilgrimage to Uganda this year.
This year also saw pilgrims from as far away as South America, with 15 Mexicans having made the trip. Other pilgrim-contributing countries are the US, Australia, Malawi, among others.
For the past five years, the government has been working closely with both the Catholic and Anglican church leadership to draw their attention to the tourism potential of Martyrs' Day and strong collaboration between the two faiths has seen joint efforts for the redevelopment of the shrines.
Ahead of the visit by Pope Francis last November, the two shrines received a major facelift. The Basilica at the Catholic Shrine was reworked as was the man-made lake where pilgrims draw “holy” water. A new sitting pavilion was built as well as expansion works on the gardens that host the millions of people for the June 3 open air public Mass.
The Anglican shrine also received a face lift to the main church building and a museum has been developed at the site. Plans to establish modern hotel facilities at both sites are being considered.
Beyond Namugongo, other religious sites being developed are the shrine of Catholic Martyrs' St Andrew Kaggwa and St Denis Ssebugwawo at Munyonyo near Lake Victoria. Pope Francis visited the shrine last year and it is being aggressively promoted both for its religious and tourism significance.
Others are in Katooke sub county, in present day Kyenjojo district, Tooro, where other martyrs died, though these are yet to gain as much recognition.
The honour paid to Ugandan martyrs elsewhere in Africa serves to Africanise Catholicism; for instance in Senegal, a church built in 1890 contains relics of these martyrs and there are several churches dedicated to St Kizito, the youngest of the Ugandan martyrs.
The Uganda Tourism Board, has marked Martyrs' Day as a key date on its tourism promotion calendar.
