RUBAGA.Today, Rubaga Roman Catholic Cathedral celebrations 100 years of existence.
The day coincides with Kampala Archdiocese Day. Lubaga Cathedral, which serves as the seat of the Kampala Archdiocese, was officially consecrated in 1925 and has since stood as a symbol of Catholic heritage and resilience in Uganda.
It was constructed through the efforts of early missionaries and local Christians, who used bricks made from the very soil of Lubaga Hill.
Over the past century, the cathedral has been central to Uganda’s spiritual, educational, and social development witnessing ordinations, baptisms, weddings, and national thanksgiving services.
The place where the cathedral is currently located was once a palace to Buganda Ssekabaka Muteesa I. This, interestingly, was in 1891. It was donated to early Catholic missionaries at the request of bishop Joseph Hirth by Kabaka Daniel Mwanga, the same man who later went on to order the killing of Christian believers otherwise known as Uganda Martyrs. Preparations to mark the cathedral’s 100 years of existence started at the beginning of the year, with many Christians eagerly anticipating the great day.
For 74-year-old Joseph Kato, a resident of Musigula Village in Rubaga Division, the milestone is particularly special, not least because he was an altar boy at this very cathedral way back in 1961 while in Primary Three at the nearby Rubaga Boys Primary School. He had entered the school in Primary One, two years earlier. Kato, once a classmate of former police chief Kale Kaihura at Mutolere Secondary School in Kisoro District, has fond memories of Rubaga Cathedral. And it is not only because he once was an altar boy there during the reign of Archbishop Joseph Cabana, a Canadian missionary. It is that and more. “Bishop Cabana was so friendly to the altar boys and would give us goodies like sweets and biscuits.
To us, he was like a parent, so close to us to an extent that we would go as far as his bedroom, play on his tiny bed, which did not suit his status,” Kato looks back. According to Kato, Archbishop Cabana would on Sunday spare time to go down Rubaga Village. There, he would visit parishioners’ homes, speaking Luganda words like “Muli mutya baana bange? (My children, how are you doing?)”. Among classmates and altar boys of the time Kato remembers so well is the current Kampala Archdiocese Vicar General Msgr Charles Kasibante, who happened to be his great friend.
Three popes…
The current cathedral is the seventh to occupy Rubaga Hill and has seen it all, having been visited by three reigning Popes and one Archbishop of Canterbury. The first to come was St Pope Paul VI. That was in 1969. It marked the first time a reigning pontiff was visiting the continent of Africa. He visited Rubaga Cathedral on July 31, 1969 to close the African bishops synod. Later, on February 9, 1993, St Pope John Paul II also visited Rubaga Cathedral to meet Ugandan Catholic priests. When it was approaching sunset, the pope walked out of the cathedral and planted a tree in the compound to commemorate his visit.
The last reigning pope to visit Rubaga Cathedral was late Pope Francis in 2015. During the visit, the Argentine pontiff met Ugandan priests and religious leaders. Robert Runcie, a former archbishop of Canterbury, also dropped by Rubaga Cathedral. That was on January 28, 1984. The visit was framed as a sign of solidarity, especially after Runcie joined Cardinal Emmanuel Nsubuga to pray inside the cathedral. He later planted a tree outside in the compound, which still stands to this day.
Rich history
Between 1891 and 1914, when the construction of the current cathedral began, the hill gave shelter to six “cathedrals.” They were made up of different structures, which unfortunately all disappeared under different circumstances. The first church to be built was destroyed on January 24, 1892 at about 8pm. This was during the so-called religious wars. Later, two more grass thatched cathedrals were built within a year. The first one was destroyed by an earthquake and the other burnt down by protestants (Anglicans). The Christians of Rubaga, however, were determined. In 1893, they built a temporary church. It was later replaced by a more solid building in 1894. This church was used until 1901. Because of the growing Catholic population around Rubaga, the need for a larger church arose. Thus the sixth new church was put up in 1901.
This time, it was free of mud. Sun dried bricks were used, though it still had a grass-thatched roof. It was 71 feet long and 21 feet broad and was blessed by Bishop Henry Halon on March 19, 1901. The structure was used for 24 years. Around this time, prominent Catholics like Stanislas Mugwanya would stay outside during Mass, watching with an ancient wooden gun. This was just in case protestants invaded. Mugwanya would only go inside the church for Holy Communion and return immediately to keep watch. The present church, a real cathedral in the true sense of the word and status, was completed in 1924 before being consecrated in 1925. The construction work took a decade.
2.5 million bricks
St Mary’s Cathedral Rubaga, as seen today, is said to accommodate 5,000 worshipers. It’s 248 feet long (260, really, if the walls are considered) and 63 feet wide. The transept measures 152 feet (162, including the walls) while the height from the floor to the ceiling is 50 feet. Some 2.5 million bricks were used to complete the cathedral. The idea of building this “mother of all churches in Uganda” came from Bishop Henry Halon in 1901.
He launched an appeal to all Catholics to contribute financially towards a building fund or ettofali, as Ugandans refer to it today. The first appeal brought in 6,522 Rupees (about Shs13,000 of the time). Brick kilns were put up at Nalukolongo and Kisubi. In 1911, St Joseph Technical School was founded at Kisubi with the help of Bro Herman of the White Fathers.
It set out to train carpenters, builders, blacksmiths and others. All of this was in view of the needs foreseen for the building of Rubaga Cathedral. Chosen to head the building of the cathedral was Bro Cyprian. He decided to put up a “test building”, the present parish church at Kisubi. He reduced the scale of the plan of the would-be Rubaga Cathedral, using one wing as the plan of Kisubi. By building this small church, Bro Cyprian aimed at training the students of the technical school in readiness for the task they would need to perform at Rubaga. One of the main tests was to see how the arches would support the weight in the walls and roof. Everything proved satisfactory and the Kisubi Church was completed in 1913, a year before the construction of Rubaga Cathedral started in 1914.
Ssika mudaali!
At Rubaga hill, Catholics contributed to the construction work. Everyone who came for the Holy Mass in the morning first stopped at Nalukolongo kiln and took a number of bricks on the head to the building site on top of Rubaga hill. The powerful Mugwanya, then a Buganda regent, used to lead the procession every morning with four bricks on his head. From the Kisubi kiln, the bricks and other materials were brought to Rubaga by an ox cart as there were no vehicles in Uganda then.
Charles Lwanga, 79, a resident of Rubaga, Musigula zone, says his grandfather, late Edmond Ssempiira, participated in carrying the bricks to the building site. He told a story that Christians who volunteered to do this work would be rewarded with Virgin Mary medals (midaali), which they treasured a lot at the time. But because of the huge task involved, they would at times get too tired and skip the work. They would say in Luganda: “Owange, ssika mudaali!” meaning, “I would rather miss the medal.”