Transcript:
Greetings beloved in Christ. I hope that you are well on this day. I have been struggling with the aftereffects of a terrible cold, and so I ask your indulgence and your forgiveness for the quality of my voice and this video. We are in the middle of February and February is Black History Month. And it is also an amazing month in celebrating the holy men and women that we in the Episcopal Church celebrate. This month alone, we celebrate Bridget, Absalom Jones, Cyril and Methodius, Barbara Clementine Harris. We celebrate Martin Luther and Frederick Douglass. We celebrate these folks not because they’re perfect but because, in their time, they’re examples of what faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ looks like. You can find their stories in this tome, Holy Women and Men Celebrating the Saints.
And today, I’d like to share with you a saint that you may not have heard of. His name was Janani Luwum. Janani Luwum was born in 1922 in Uganda, near the border of Sudan. He was a teacher and lay preacher, and he was sent to St. Augustine’s College in Canterbury. He was ordained priest in 1956, and he returned to Uganda to serve his people.
He was made bishop of Northern Uganda in 1969, and he faithfully served his folks and raised the profile and the plight of colonized places in the Anglican Church. In 1974, he was ordained Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi. His election as Archbishop brought him into contact and conflict with military dictator Idi Amin. The Archbishop sought to protect his people, and he protested the brutality of Idi Amin’s regime. He specifically protested government-sanctioned sexual assault and murder. In February 1977, the Archbishop was invited to Idi Amin’s palace. And he went with other Anglican bishops, the Roman Catholic Archbishop, and a senior leader in the Muslim community. They were accused of complicity and a plot to assassinate President Amin. After a while, the other clerics were dismissed, but Luwum was detained. He said to his colleagues, “They’re going to kill me. I’m not afraid.” Janani Luwum was never seen alive again.
The government reported that he had died in a car accident, but when his family was finally given his body, they found it riddled with bullets. Early in his confrontation with the Ugandan leader, Archbishop Luwum answered one of his critics saying, “I do not know how long I shall occupy this chair. I live as though there will be no tomorrow. While the opportunity is there, I will preach the gospel with all my might, and my conscience is clear before my God.” I end with this prayer, “Oh God, whose son, the good shepherd laid down his life for the sheep. We give you thanks for your faithful shepherd, Janani Luwum, who, after his savior’s example, gave up his life for the people of Uganda. Grant us to be so inspired by his witness that we make no peace with oppression, but live as those who are sealed with the cross of Christ, who died and rose again and lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit. One God forever and ever. Amen.”