One of the many remarkable things about the Catholic Church is that we have such a variety of Saints: that come from different backgrounds, parts of the world; and with often very divergent personalities and temperaments. The community of Saints truly reflects the universal aspect of Catholicism. Therefore, over the past few years, I have been inexplicably drawn to a rather obscure Saint, St. Charles Lwanga, and his comrades from Uganda, who were burned for converting to Catholicism, and for fleeing the homosexual advances of the megalomaniac king of their poor and occult fixated nation. While some find only the sordid story of a lecherous ruler trying to sodomize the pre-teen “pages” under his authority; I see a contemporary relevance in the bravery and stoutness of one man, and many children, to stand against the power of evil.
The pre-Christian history of religion in Uganda was a pantheonic sort of spirituality dominated by a belief in multiple demi-gods, or spirits to be more accurate, that controlled everything from the weather to diseases. Each spirit god was attached to a certain temple oracle, who could become possessed by the entity and would then prophesy, exact rituals, and accept sacrifices. The occultist aspects of this religion has survived in Uganda, and other parts of Africa, as evidenced by the enduring power of so-called witch-doctors who deal out spells and potions that are purported to cure everything from cancer to AIDS; as well as the sudden reemergence of human sacrifice and cannibalism. This peculiarity was exploited most effectively by former dictator Idi Amin who terrorized the country with s somewhat quasi-demonic power.
In the time of St. Charles Lwanga, mid to late 19th Century, the occult practices of the past, despite the valiant efforts of both Catholic and Anglican missionaries, still held an extreme amount of influence over the country and the political and social spheres of power. The monarchial ruler at the time, King Mwanga, was attempting to curb foreign influence by persecuting both the missionaries and the local native converts. And, part and parcel along with the animistic occult traditions was an open toleration of homosexual practices. Modern queer theorists Stephen Murray and Will Roscoe in their book “Boy Wives and Female Husbands” brought together anthropological research supporting a strong pre-colonial culture of homosexuality in Africa; and, although ancient Africa was made up of a wide array of different forms of society - many of them tolerated or celebrated same sex relations of one sort or another: “Hundreds of African societies record same-sex sexual activity between men and more than 50 have records of it between women…More than 30 African societies sometimes permitted ‘female husbands’—where two women marry. These included the Igbo in modern Nigeria and the Zulu people in South Africa. In the case of the Igbo it was primarily an economic relationship to keep a family’s wealth if it had no sons. Ethiopian Nuer people questioned in the 1960s said there were no homosexual men among their people. Among the Azande in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo male warriors would often take ‘boy wives.’ They would pay a bride price to the boy’s family and live as a couple.” In this context, Mwanga can be perceived as a later day Julian the Apostate, the Third Century Roman Emperor who haplessly sought to resurrect the pagan gods and subdue Christianity; and, both saw their reigns flowing with the blood of martyrs.
Here, it is my contention, that wherever there is a rise or return to superstitious practices, there will also be a reappearance to pre-Christian forms of sexual perversity; I witnessed this first-hand in the new-age/wicca movements of the late-20th century America were an abandonment of Judeo-Christian values signaled a devotion to sex ritualism, tantra, and Aleister Crowley. In the case of the Uganda martyrs, that sexual perversity was solidified into a political and social apparatus which demanded their acquiescence or their death. Nowadays, the struggle continues, but more sharply on the cultural front: where fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, family members and friends must often choose between their affection and loyalty towards a person they greatly love, or for their belief in a God who condemns such choices. Sadly, I think in modern-day Uganda itself, we are seeing an over-radicalization of religious moral teachings that is in danger of swerving towards hatred and persecution. Yet, even though the Uganda martyrs died in violence; it was still an act of supreme Love: giving their lives for Christ and for the very salvation of the evil men who murdered them. Only, in the US and the Western World, we are equally taking the wrong track: by accepting homosexuality as a purely natural variation; when, in reality, we have also condemned them to their own horrific death: from AIDS, suicide, drugs, and most horrendously, a spiritual form of death in everlasting darkness.