The family of Mukajjanga Kibuuka Musigula, the chief executioner of the Uganda Martyrs, has apologised to the Church of Uganda, 122 years after he killed the Christians.
Namirembe Bishop the Rev. Samuel Balagadde Ssekkadde told pilgrims at the Namugongo Protestant Martyrs’ shrine yesterday that Mukajjanga’s grandchildren delivered their written apology to the provincial offices.
“We forgave them and welcomed them to the body of Christ and recruited them into the ministry of the Church of Uganda,” Ssekadde said as the crowd cheered.
Stupid. Very stupid.
2. What’s stupid, other than the king’s racist remark about whites not bringing God to the Africans. Unfortunately the king of Bunyoro-Kitara is notoriously anti-British and that no doubt colored his remarks. I have heard ABP Orombi say on several occassions how grateful his church is for the European missionaries who brought the Christian faith to them in the 19th century.
“Stupid. Very stupid”
What’s stupid? Sounds like there’s good reason for rejoicing here. And least for those with ears to hear.
Apologizing for what your grandparents (or great-grandparents) did.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, scripture says in several places that sins are visited on future generations. If you dared to look, you’d find it has biblical basis and practical consequence. You can say “that is not my cup of tea”, but why impugn the intelligence of people who are trying to bring healing to their family and the Church.
5:
More than one Hebrew scholar would disagree with your interpretations of those OT verses.
I don’t believe that Mukajjanga’s grandchildren are vicariously guilty of Mukajjanga’s sins. Cf. Ezekiel 18.
But there is nothing wrong with saying “I am deeply sorry” for the misdeeds of my ancestors. I am. I cannot undo those wrongs, but acknowledging them and regretting that they took place is far better than being insouciant about them and PRIDEFUL for not apologizing.
This apology may have been important for the grandchildrens’ own healing.
Gordian [#1] is, I suspect, projecting his own preconceived political agenda onto this story from Uganda.
Fr. Michael Petty, Associate Rector for Adult Education at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Tallahassee, FL, delivered a homily about the Ugandan Martyrs yesterday. Here is the text on St. Peter’s new blog, The Tracts for the Times: [url=http://www.saint-peters.net/tracts]http://www.saint-peters.net/tracts[/url]
Apologizing on behalf of one’s ancestors can bring relief and healing to those who are affected by what happened to THEIR ancestors or people. It is a way to set right something that otherwise could not be righted, since the person committing the act is long dead. It also can help others to know that the ones who apologize today themselves understand the error of what was done, and would not themselves condone it or do it. Thus, trust can begin to be built where it might not have been otherwise.
samh, I would be shocked if they did not. Irenaeus sums up my thoughts better than I did. However, I myself have seen the consequences of sins such as alcoholism and abuse pass down through the generations – a pattern of addiction, bitterness and recrimination sometimes generations removed from the original offense. Whether this is in direct correlation to references such as Exodus 20:5, or Numbers 14:18, perhaps I shouldn’t say. It has always made sense to me in that context, but perhaps I am in error. What Ezekiel 18 seems to demonstrate is that this is not inevitable or inherent. People can and should break free, and not feel inherently bound by the sins of their forbears. Perhaps that is what is happening here. The family clearly felt guilt, to the extent that they avoided Christians. This gives them that release. samh, if you have citations I’d happily receive them, as a theologian I am ever a work in progress.
Vincentia also states it well.
In a culture in which ancestors are a very powerful spiritual reality (holy ones resting with the Lord, for Christians) it seems to me moving and powerful. Western individualism is not the only way that people relate to their kin.
I found this a very moving story – and praise the Lord for those who asked for forgiveness and for those who so freely gave it.