{"id":143333,"date":"2026-02-17T07:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=143333"},"modified":"2026-02-17T06:21:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T11:21:04","slug":"bishop-festo-kivengeres-account-of-the-martyrdom-of-ugandan-archbishop-janani-luwum-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=143333","title":{"rendered":"Bishop Festo Kivengere\u2019s account of the Martyrdom of Ugandan Archbishop Janani Luwum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

In Uganda, during the eight years in the 1970\u2019s when Idi Amin and his men slaughtered probably half a million Ugandans, \u201cWe live today and are gone tomorrow\u201d was the common phrase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We learned that living in danger, when the Lord Jesus is the focus of your life, can be liberating. For one thing, you are no longer imprisoned by your own security, because there is none. So the important security that people sought was to be anchored in God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we testified to the safe place we had in Jesus, many people who had been pagan, or were on the fringes of Christianity, flocked to the church or to individuals, asking earnestly, \u201cHow do you prepare yourself for death?\u201d Churches all over the country were packed both with members and seekers. This was no comfort to President Amin, who was making wild promises to Libya and other Arab nations that Uganda would soon be a Muslim country. (It is actually 80 per cent Christian)\u2026.
It became clear to us through the Scriptures that our resistance was to be that of overcoming evil with good. This included refusing to cooperate with anything that dehumanizes people, but we reaffirmed that we can never be involved in using force or weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026we knew, of course, that the accusation against our beloved brother, Archbishop Janani Luwum, that he was hiding weapons for an armed rebellion, was untrue, a frame-up to justify his murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The archbishop\u2019s arrest, and the news of his death, was a blow from the Enemy calculated to send us reeling. That was on February 16, 1977. The truth of the matter is that it boomeranged on Idi Amin himself. Through it he lost respect in the world and, as we see it now, it was the beginning of the end for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For us, the effect can best be expressed in the words of the little lady who came to arrange flowers, as she walked through the cathedral with several despondent bishops who were preparing for Archbishop Luwum\u2019s Memorial Service. She said, \u201cThis is going to put us twenty times forward, isn\u2019t it?\u201d And as a matter of fact, it did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than four thousand people walked, unintimidated, past Idi Amin\u2019s guards to pack St. Paul\u2019s Cathedral in Kampala on February 20. They repeatedly sang the \u201cMartyr\u2019s Song,\u201d which had been sung by the young Ugandan martyrs in 1885. Those young lads had only recently come to know the Lord, but they loved Him so much that they could refuse the evil thing demanded of them by King Mwanga. They died in the flames singing, \u201cOh that I had wings such as angels have, I would fly away and be with the Lord.\u201d They were given wings, and the singing of those thousands at the Memorial Service had wings too.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u2013Festo Kivengere, Revolutionary Love<\/strong>, Chapter Nine<\/p>

\u201cArchbishop Janani Luwum stood firmly for truth, justice, and the sanctity of human life. At the Uganda Cancer Institute, his courage inspires us to serve our patients with integrity, compassion, and unwavering commitment\u2014no matter the challenges we face.\u201dDr. Jackson Orem pic.twitter.com\/ODfM73Ac1N<\/a><\/p>— Uganda Cancer Institute (@UgandaCancerIns) February 16, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>