May 12 is the anniversary of Mapeera’s death in 1890. 

From the New Vision’s archives, we bring you the first Catholic mission that gave Christianity in Uganda a history to reckon with.

 June 25 will be 142 years since the first-ever Catholic Mass was said on Ugandan soil. 

This historic event was at Nabulagala present-day Rubaga Division. The place now hosts St. John the Baptist Catholic Church (Mapeera-Nabulagala). 

According to records from the Archives of the White Fathers, Nabulagala-Lubya was the place where the first Catholic missionaries, Fr. Simeon Lourdel Mapeera and Bro. Delmas Amans established their first mission station subsequent to their arrival in Uganda, on February 17, 1879. 

King Muteesa gave them the land and also built them their first house. 

After settling at Nabulagala, Mapeera and Amans started redeeming slaves from the Arab slave traders and in just three months, they had rescued about 28 children. They would negotiate and buy out the slaves.

First mass, baptism

Nabulagala is acknowledged as the cradle of the Catholic faith because it was there that the first-ever Catholic Mass of the Latin Rite was celebrated, on June 25, 1879.  

Mapeera could not celebrate mass earlier in January because the portable altar and other articles used to celebrate mass had been left with the other group of missionaries at Kageye, in Tanzania. 

So, when the three missionaries, Pere Ludovic Girault, Pere Leone Barbot and Msgr. Leone Livinhac arrived on June 24 and mass was celebrated the second day. The celebrant was Msgr. Livinhac.

It was also at Nabulagala, on March 28, 1880 (Easter Vigil) that the sacrament of Baptism was first celebrated. 

On that day, Msgr. Livinhac baptised Paul Nalubandwa, Peter Kyonooneka Ddamulira, Joseph Lwanga and Leo Kaddu. 

These received their first Holy Communion and confirmation the following day. Martyrs Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe and Andrew Kaggwa were also baptised by Fr. Lourdel Mapeera at Nabulagala on April 30, 1882. 

Saints Mathias Mulumba and Lukka Baanabakintu were also baptised later on, still at Nabulagala, by Ludovic Girault on May 28, 1882.

Nabulagala is also known for hosting the dedication of the missionary activity of the White Fathers and Uganda to Mary on July 2, 1879. 

It hosted the first synod during which Saint Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe was elected as the leader of the Christians in November 1882. 

The missionaries had fled Uganda for Tanzania due to persecution. The few baptised Catholics and some catechumens, who remained behind, met and laid strategies for how to run the Church during the absence of the White Fathers.

The parish

Prior to 2006, Nabulagala was just a sub-parish of greater Nakulabye. 

Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala elevated it to a fully-fledged parish, called St. John the Baptist Mapera Nabulagala Catholic parish. It was inaugurated on June 24, 2007. 

The parish was entrusted to the White Fathers, who began their missionary activity at that very palace. 

Its pioneer parish-priest was Fr. Richard Nnyombi, a senior member of the Missionary Society of White Fathers. 

Formerly, a small church sitting about 200 Christians, Nabulalagala has been developed to reflect its glory. 

A presbytery has been fully built and the new church, which will be consecrated, sits about 1,000 Christians.

Mapeera remains

To seal the importance of Nabulagala, the remains of the pioneer missionaries, Fr. Lourdel Mapeera, Bro. Amans, Fr. Leone Barbot and Msgr. Leone Livinhac were brought to Nabulagala and buried in the memorial chapel on March 6, 2011.

Mapeera Nabulagala is thus a very crucial symbol of the Catholic faith, a religious tourism centre that must be respected and developed accordingly.

Cardinal Wamala said of Nabulagala: “Nabulagala-Lubya is the cradle of our faith. Every time we come here were should rethink and meditate about this faith.”

Fr. Richard Nnyombi called it “our ancestral land because it is where the Fathers of the Catholic faith are laid to rest.”

The reigning parish-priest, Fr. Antonio Koffi was also upbeat about the consecration of the new church. 

“Every year we make a pilgrimage of faith to this historical place, which is the mother of all the Catholic parishes in Uganda. 

It is where the spread of the faith in the country started. But this year’s pilgrimage will be even more memorable because we shall witness the consecration of the new Church, which has taken the people of God over about 10 years to build. 

I urge you to come in great numbers to witness this historic occasion. We still have to do some final touches on the Church. So, I also encourage all of you Catholics and people of good will to continue making contributions towards this noble cause.”