By Joel Ogwang

ETHICS and integrity state minister James Nsaba Buturo has criticised the Catholic and Anglican churches for holding different Martyrs’ Day celebrations.

He said whilst Christians served the same God, they betrayed the spirit of brotherhood by having different celebrations.

Whilst both faiths commemorate the day, the Catholic celebrations are more pronounced.

“Christianity is supposed to unite us. I want to see Anglicans and Catholics having one big celebration for Martyrs’ Day,” Buturo said.

However, the Bishop of Mukono Diocese, the Rt. Rev. Paul Luzinda, said Buturo “should revise his books regarding the different celebrations”.

The Anglican Church seceded from the Catholic Church due to irreconcilable differences in the early 1800s, he said.

“The secession is all about the church’s history. Buturo is a Christian and I expect him to know this. More so, separate missionaries introduced the two religions in Uganda,” he said.

June 3 every year is Martyrs’ Day, a day when Christians celebrate the 45 Christians, who were killed by Kabaka Mwanga for refusing to denounce their faith.

The Martyrs had converted to Christianity, a foreign religion imported by two missionaries, Fr. Lourdel Mon Pere, nicknamed Mapeera, and Br. Amons in 1789.

Mwanga had vehemently opposed Christianity and accused the 45 of worshipping a God they had never seen.
Some historians say Christianity was a tool used by Britain to colonise Africa.

They portray mis as agents of colonialism, who held a Bible that would soften the hearts of Africans in one hand and a gun to fight resistance to colonialism in the other.

Buturo criticised the colonialists for using religion to advance their selfish interests.

“Colonialism and religion should not move together. It is a pity that colonialists used religion, but we can now distinguish the two,” he said.

He added that joint celebrations were possible since the Uganda Joint Christian Council, an umbrella body for all religions, managed to unite the religions.