– and the relics of the blessed Daudi Okello and Jildo Irwa in St. Genevieve Catholic Church in Panorama City, in the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, California, USA.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to God who enabled me to travel safely to Los Angeles to bless and install the Shrine of the Uganda Martyrs and to deposit the relics of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions – and the relics of the blessed Daudi Okello and Jildo Irwa in St. Genevieve Catholic Church in Panorama City, in the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, California, USA. The relics will be preserved in the Church. St. Genevieve Catholic Church is the home parish of Ugandans living in Los Angeles. But every year, Ugandans who live in California congregate at the same parish to celebrate the Feast Day of the Uganda Martyrs. The celebration was held on June 19th, 2022; It was a colorful celebration, the Church was fully packed. People from different nationalities participated in the liturgy with great joy, interest, and attentiveness throughout the whole celebration.
The presence of the Rt. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa, Deputy Speaker of Parliament with his wife Anita, Mrs. Anne Babinaga, Minister Counselor representing the Ugandan Embassy in Washington DC, and Ugandan delegation of VIPs that accompanied the Rt. Hon. Deputy Speaker of Parliament was great honor and a wonderful gesture of support to Ugandans who live in USA but also to the people of Los Angeles to know how the people of Uganda as a country love our Uganda Martyrs because they unite us, inspire us to live a life of prayer, and to practice steadfast faith in union with our Lord Jesus Christ. I would like to thank the Rt. Hon. Speaker Anita Annet Among, Speaker of Parliament, who allowed and delegated her Deputy to represent the government of Uganda to such a historic event of installing a Shrine in honor of Uganda Martyrs in Los Angeles. It is the first time of its kind in the history of Uganda that such a sacred place in honor of Uganda Martyrs was installed in a Church outside Uganda – that those in the diaspora in North America and beyond may have a nearby Namugongo, for pilgrimage.
I launched this project of erecting the Shrine in honor of the Uganda Martyrs in Los Angeles in 2016, together with Her Excellency Ambassador Oliver Wonekha (Ugandan Ambassador to DC at that time, now Ambassador designate to China). I thank her for the support in the whole process of realizing this project through its official inauguration. It all started when I was invited in my in my capacity (by then) as Chairman of the Uganda Episcopal Conference (UEC) to join the Ugandan Catholic Community of Los Angeles as a Principal Celebrant at the celebration of the Uganda Martyrs Day. Fr. Alden Sison, the Parish Priest of St. Genevieve Parish, offered us a spot in the Church to erect a Shrine in honor of the Uganda Martyrs.
The Uganda Catholic Community of Los Angeles in collaboration with their (former) Patron Rev. Dr. John Bosco Musinguzi, engaged the UEC through Msgr. John Baptist Kauta, the Secretary General of UEC for guidance on what to do to erect the Shrine. The Secretary General suggested to have a Wooden Sculpture of the faces of the Uganda Martyrs including the two blessed Daudi Okello and Jildo Irwa of Northern Uganda for the Shrine; the Wooden Sculpture of the Ugandan Martyrs would reflect our Ugandan culture. The Secretary General assigned the responsibility to Brother Fred Musazi of Banakarori Brothers in Masaka who did an amazing job of curving the faces of the Uganda Martyrs with their names using the Mvule or Muvule tree. And Mr. Kigoye Damian, a Ugandan from Los Angeles came to Uganda and brought the finished work of the Wooden Sculpture to Los Angeles. The project was funded by Ugandans in Los Angeles.
The Shrine with relics is a great spiritual milestone the Uganda Catholic Community of Los Angeles have achieved. And His Grace the Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles expressed his joy about the Shrine and relics based on the conversation I had with him when I paid him a courtesy call.
The Shrine will be a place of pilgrimage for devotion, prayer for spiritual renewal to grow in a life of union with God, veneration, solace, and visitation to intercede for physical and spiritual healing through Uganda Martyrs – and Eucharistic celebration. The sacred place has a potential to increase social interactions among people from different countries and to promote our Ugandan culture through symbols, such as olubugo (back cloth) and Ugandan souvenirs people can buy to take home in memory of the Uganda Martyrs.
The celebration we held on June 19, 2022, will remain spiritually historical, cultural, and of great religious significance to many people of God in the Great City of Los Angeles. The Ugandan Catholic Community of Los Angeles decided to adopt permanently the 3rd Sunday of June of every year - to be the day to celebrate the Feast of the Uganda Martyrs at St. Genevieve Catholic Parish in the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The UEC will remain supportive of the spiritual needs of our brothers and sisters in the diaspora that they continue to grow in the desire to live a perfect life of union with God and to let their hearts be an in-dwelling place of the Triune God that with His grace at work in their lives, they may faithfully participate in witnessing the love of God through charity and unity.
The flag of faith of the Uganda Martyrs has been raised in Los Angeles by installing a Shrine, we pray that the faith of those in the diaspora and their relationship with God may grow deeper - and may they be committed ambassadors of our mother land Uganda.
+ Archbishop John Baptist Odama
Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Gulu
