Anglican Communion News Service

Twenty six years after the grim martyrdom of the Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, the Most Revd Janani Luwum, the Government of the Republic of Uganda for the first time has apologised to the Church and the entire global community for his murder. Furthermore, they have announced the setting up of the Archbishop Janani Luwum scholarship fund at Kitemu Secondary School to benefit two students who would want to enrol for theological training after their general education.

Mrs Zamzam Kasujja, Deputy Director for Legal affairs of Government, said,

"On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Uganda and on my own behalf, we wish to apologise to the global Church for the sins of our predecessors. The murder of Archbishop Luwum by the Amin Government not only robbed the Church of a courageous and committed leader but also plunged our country into economic, political and religious lows never seen before." Archbishop Janani Luwum was murdered on 16 February 1977 together with two other outspoken government ministers in cold blood.

"But perhaps more importantly, the martyrdom of the Archbishop epitomises a spirit of resilience which we celebrate this morning," Mrs Kasujja encouraged her listeners.

Archbishop Luwum is one of the ten 20th century martyrs whose statutes where unveiled by the Archbishop of Canterbury and now stand on the west front of Westminster Abbey in London.

The one hour sombre service, which took place on Sunday 16 February 2003, was hosted at Kitemu Secondary school, which has grown rapidly through its links and prayers with the St James Episcopal Church, Eureka Springs, Little Rock, Arkansas (USA).

The service, which followed the Church of Uganda's 1929 Book of Common Prayer liturgy, began with John Newton's Amazing Grace and was led by the retired Bishop of Busoga Diocese, the Rt Revd Cyprian Bamwoze, who represented the Archbishop of Church of Uganda, the Most Revd Livingstone Mpalanyi Nkoyooyo.

In the message read for him by Bishop Bamwoze, Archbishop Nkoyooyo recalls how as a newly ordained priest, his predecessor (Janani) told him that "to invoke the blessings of God, which you have just been called, is a universal and an instinctive cry; it is to lift our world with all it's imperfections to heaven for a renewal and transformation. And this is not without risks - it could cost life.

"Archbishop Luwum's commitment to the Gospel, even in the face of death, reminds us to go out and renew our lives and the world around us. To make our journey in life shine with a star's delight; and the God of our Pilgrimage will be with us throughout life and death," Archbishop Nkoyooyo said.

He thanked the present Government's leadership which has tried to make up for the mistakes of the past Governments in restoring sanity and a strong working relationship with the Church.