Janani Luwum

Janani Luwum was born around 1922 in Mucwini, in the Acholi region of northern Uganda. His family was poor, and they were farmers. He was raised in a traditional setting and as a boy tended cattle. He attended a mission school, where he was drawn to Christianity. He was baptized as a teenager and came to a living faith. He was an able student and became a teacher at a school. He felt a call to the ministry and went on to train as a clergyman.

He studied at the Buwalasi Theological College and then spent a year at St. Augustine's College in Canterbury, England, in 1955 and 1956. He was ordained in 1956 and served as a priest in northern Uganda. In 1966 he became the principal of the theological college at Buwalasi. He proved to be a gifted administrator and a warm and humble man. In 1969 he was consecrated Bishop of Northern Uganda, and in 1974 he was elected Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire.

His time as archbishop came during the rule of Idi Amin, who had seized power in 1971. Amin's regime became one of the most brutal in African history. Tens of thousands of people were killed, among them many from the Acholi and Langi tribes, and many Christians. Luwum was a man of peace and of courage. He spoke out against the killings and the abuse of power. He made it his business to intercede for the people who had been arrested and tortured. He met with Amin several times and asked him to stop the violence.

In February 1977, the situation reached a crisis. The government searched the homes of bishops, claiming that arms were hidden there. On February 5, Luwum and the other bishops sent Amin a memorandum protesting the killings and disappearances. In reply, Amin summoned the archbishop and the bishops to a meeting. On February 16, Luwum was taken to a meeting with the president at the Nile Mansions hotel. He was seen to be calm. He was accused of plotting against the government. He was then taken away and put in a car.

The government announced that he had died in a car accident on February 17, 1977, while resisting arrest. The truth was different. It later emerged that he had been shot, probably by Amin himself or on his orders. His body, riddled with bullets, was returned to his family, who were forbidden to hold a public funeral. He was buried in his home village. He was about fifty-five years old. His death shocked the world. Other church leaders, like Festo Kivengere, fled the country in fear.

His life was marked by gentleness and faithfulness. He did not seek power, and he took the position of archbishop with reluctance. He had a quiet humor and a plain manner. He knew the danger he was in. He is said to have told his friends that he was ready to die. In the final days, he is reported to have said that he would not run away. He was a martyr in the fullest sense, one who died for speaking the truth.

In 1998, a statue of Luwum was placed on the west front of Westminster Abbey, among the martyrs of the twentieth century. He is honored in Uganda as a hero. His life shows that a quiet man may have the courage to face a tyrant, and that the church is strengthened by those who give their lives for justice.