St. Kizito

Saint Kizito is remembered as the youngest of the Uganda Martyrs, a group of Catholic and Anglican converts executed in the kingdom of Buganda in the late nineteenth century. He was born around 1872 in the royal court of King Mwanga II, where he served as a page and attendant. Estimates of his age at death range from about 13 to 15, which made his martyrdom especially striking to European observers and later generations of African Christians. Like many boys his age in the Bugandan court, Kizito was part of a household of royal pages who served the king and his chiefs. Catholic missionaries had arrived in Buganda earlier in the century, and by the 1870s and 1880s the White Fathers (Missionaries of Africa) had established a significant presence in the region. They were accompanied and followed by Anglican missionaries, and both groups found a receptive audience among young pages and officials at court. Kizito was catechized and prepared for baptism by Charles Lwanga, who served as a senior attendant in the royal household. Under Lwanga's instruction, the young page learned the prayers and doctrines of the Catholic faith and asked to be received into the Church. The political crisis that led to the martyrs' deaths began in 1885, when King Mwanga grew increasingly suspicious of Christian influence among his pages, whom he feared would be more loyal to their faith and to foreign missionaries than to himself. The immediate flashpoint came with the killing of the Anglican bishop James Hannington and a later incident in which a page reportedly refused the king's advances. Mwanga ordered the execution of a first group of martyrs in late 1885, including a number of Anglican converts, and then turned his attention to the Catholic pages under Lwanga's care. Kizito was baptized by Charles Lwanga on the night before the executions, in the brief time they had left to prepare spiritually. The next morning, on June 3, 1886, Lwanga and a group of Catholic companions were led out to Namugongo. According to accounts recorded by missionaries who spoke with survivors, Kizito smiled and laughed as he walked to his death, clinging to the hand of his mentor. He was burned alive alongside his companions, becoming the youngest of the twenty-two Uganda Martyrs eventually recognized by the Catholic Church. The Uganda Martyrs were beatified by Pope Benedict XV in 1920 and canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1964 during his visit to Uganda, a journey that also made the pope the first to set foot on African soil in modern history. Kizito's youth and joy at the moment of his death have made him a particular patron of children, catechumens, and primary school students in Uganda and beyond. His feast, together with that of his companions, is celebrated on June 3, and shrines at Namugongo and at Munyonyo draw pilgrims who honor the courage of these young converts.