Archbishop of York John Sentamu preached yesterday at an international memorial service organized by the Anglican Church of Uganda to honor Janani Luwum, the archbishop who dared to demand that Idi Amin give up extra-judicial killings, ethnic persecution, and political corruption and oppression, the Religion News Service reports.
The current President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, also spoke at the memorial on the occasion of a public holiday called to honor the archbishop, whose death on February 16, 1977, was widely thought to have been ordered by Amin. Museveni saluted Luwum’s decision “to die for the truth.”
RNS reports that Ugandan-born Sentamu
met Luwum when he was posted in Gulu town as a magistrate. Luwum challenged him to use his position to bring justice to a country where prisons were filled with people wrongfully accused.
“We must be Christ to his people,” Sentamu said Luwum told him. “‘Take up their cases.’”
Idi Amin ruled Uganda from 1971-1979. Between 100,000 and 500,000 people are estimated to have been killed by his regime. Luwum’s wikipedia page notes that the archbishop is recognized as a martyr in the Church of England and the Anglican Communion.
Read the RNS story here.
Posted by Rosalind Hughes