How St Kizito Waluleta annual pilgrimage day passed unnoticed

To a section of the Catholic faithful, St Kizito, the youngest of the Uganda Martyrs, is patron saint to many institutions. This possibly explains the mammoth crowds that attend the annual pilgrimage. The 2021 pilgrimage though passed unnoticed as the Church kept the tough Covid-19 pandemic guidelines.

Waluleta, the site of the pilgrimage and birthplace of St Kizito is located about 7km off the Kampala-Gulu highway, west of Wobulenzi Town in Makulubita Sub-county, Luweero District.

While  Martyrs Day was celebrated scientifically earlier this year, the Waluleta pilgrimage was not.Rev Dennis Ssebugwawo, the Kasana- Luweero Diocese pastoral coordinator clarifies that while churches remain closed, the St Kizito pilgrimage marked and observed on the church calendar in Kasana- Luweero Diocese.

“The Church observed that day silently. We have been using the online services to reach people that have a chance to get the live broadcasts including those that can access internet services,” he says.

Rev Lawrence Kizito Kimbowa,  who isin charge of the St Kizito Waluleta Shrine, in an interview said the Church marked the day with prayer held at the different parishes in a virtual way. 

In an interview with the Sunday Monitor, Joseph Ssebaduka, a resident of Nyimbwa Subcounty, said his family has been keen and always joined the hundreds of Christians who have for years paid homage to the birth place of the martyr but couldn’t this time round.

Tourism site
The Waluleta Holy Shrine was promoted to a tourism site by the Uganda Tourism Board in partnership with the Catholic Church under the Uganda Episcopal Conference to raise awareness about the birth place of St Kizito.
To many pilgrims, the visit is never about touring the site but enriching their faith.

Teopista Kabanda, a primary school teacher and resident of Kasaala village, is among the many Christians that misses both the Waluleta and Namugongo pilgrimages, because she says whenever she visited, her prayers were answered.

“I have visited Namugongo for the last 25 years and have never regretted. For Waluleta, I have visited at least six times,” she says.

About the holy shrine 
The site only came to light about 18 years ago as part of the Catholic Church initiative to secure the Church history through mapping out areas that have attachments to the Church history.

The first initiative to have the birthplace of the youngest of the Uganda Martyrs recognised was way back in 1995 when the Kasana- Luweero Diocese pioneer bishop, the late Cyprian Kizito Lwanga moved and met elders in Makulubita Sub-county, Luweero District to try and establish facts about the possible birthplace of the martyr.

Bishop Lwanga met some of the surviving descendants of St Kizito that helped locate the area including the graves of some of the relatives at Kigwe village in Waluleta parish. The graves belonging to some of the descendants were reconstructed and many other artefacts including the old Mvule tree believed to have been the resting tree shade of the Kizito family was secured.

In July 2016, Uganda Episcopal Conference officially sanctified the St Kizito Waluleta holy shrines at a Mass officiated by then Kampala Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga. The Catholic Church had earlier decreed the St Kizito Waluleta shrines for annual pilgrimage.

Waluleta that has since been transformed to a more secure area with a replica of the Kizito family home, the Mvule tree was secured from threats of destruction by people targeting its branches and bark as a source of blessings to their respective homes.

Since its approval by the Uganda Tourism Board as a religious tourist sight in 2018, Church authorities at Kasana – Luweero Diocese reveal that efforts to try and boost the area to international standards have suffered a setback as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kasana- Luweero Diocese has more plans to elevate more of the Church historical sites that have been identified and lined up for preservation as religious tourism sites. The sites include the birth place of St Antanansio Bazzekuketa one of the Uganda Martyrs located at Mulajje parish in Bamunanika Sub-county, Luweero District and the birthplace of St Dennis Ssebugwawo, another martyr located at Kiwoko Town Council in Nakaseke District.

Did you know?
Kizito was aged fourteen or fifteen when he died. No baptismal name of his has been recorded, since he was baptized in haste by Saint Charles Lwanga during the night of May 25, 1886, before being sentenced to death the following day. Kizito’s biological father was Lukomera of the Lung-fish (Mamba) Clan and his mother was Wangabira of the Civet Cat (Fumbe) Clan.