Saint Athanasius Bazzekuketta

Atanásio Bazzekuketta was born in Kampala, capital of Uganda, Africa, in 1866. He was the son of an important court official in his country and belonged to the Nkima clan. At the age of 15 he was baptized on November 16, 1885.

Athanasius served as a page to King Mutesa and later to his son, Prince Mwanga. The young king was instructed by missionaries, known as “White Fathers”, however, he was stubborn and incapable of concentration and did not know how to read or write. Furthermore, Mwanga had learned from the white traders the worst things they used to do, such as smoking hashish, drinking alcohol in large quantities and practicing homosexuality.

Athanasius Bazzekuketta and Christian Persecution

Mwanga saw in Christianity the greatest danger to tribal traditions and the greatest obstacle to their debauchery and began to ferociously persecute Christians. The first to suffer persecution was the Anglican bishop Hannington.

On November 15, 1885, King Mwanga ordered the beheading of the master of the pages, Giuseppe Mkasa Balikuddembè, who was Catholic and publicly reproached the king for having killed the Anglican bishop and defended the young pages from the king’s sexual “advances”.

Giuseppe Mkasa Balikuddembè was replaced by Carlo Lwanga, from the Ngabi clan, and, once again, the king took an interest in him. But, Carlo was also Catholic and, therefore, he was sentenced to death on May 27, 1886 along with a group of Christians and four catechumens whom he managed to baptize that night.

Athanasius Bazzekuketta was part of this group of 22 Ugandan martyrs who were killed during the persecution of around one hundred Christians, between November 1885 and February 1887.

The Death of Athanasius Bazzekuketta

Athanasius was guardian of the royal treasury and was killed on June 3, 1886, aged just 20. He offered himself to the executioners who, during a transfer march of imprisoned Christians, killed one at each crossroads to terrorize the others.

Those who witnessed the execution were amazed to hear them pray until the end, without groaning. This martyrdom, far from extinguishing faith in Uganda, ended up becoming the seed of many conversions , as Bruno Sserunkuuma prophetically stated before suffering martyrdom.

Beatification and Canonization of Athanasius Bazzekuketta

Athanasius Bazzekuketta was beatified in 1920 by Pope Benedict

Athanasius Bazzekuketta is a martyred hero in Africa, whose martyrdom served to bring faith to many others.