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Press reports of the visit of Pope Paul VI to Kampala, Uganda, were so concerned with speculation about his peace efforts with Nigeria and Uganda that the events of his visit to consecrate the shrine to the Martyrs of Uganda have been reported in a sketchy and disjointed fashion. Pope Paul was met at the Entebbe Airport by the heads of six African nations. Pres. Milton Obote of Uganda, an Episcopalian, greeted Pope Paul and accompanied him on the 21-mile trip by auto to Kampala. An estimated crowd of 150,000 in this country of 8 million people, more than a third of whom are Catholic, lined the route. They varied from half-naked tribesmen with monkey headdress to those wearing T-shirts with the image of Pope Paul on them. Pres. Obote remarked We greet your Holiness with all our hearts, with songs of jubilation and with throbbing drums." The President stayed at the Pope's side for all major public appearances and for private meetings with delegations from Nigeria and Biafra. During his visit, he attended the Symposium of African Bishops and consecrated twelve more African bishops at an outdoor Mass concelebrated by the assembled African Hierarchy. He visited nuns and later told of their dancing with enthusiasm, African style. He met the people of Kampala and was impressed with the African youth. The shrine of the 23 Anglican Martyrs is on the actual site of most of the martyrdoms at Namuongo, 12 miles from Kampala. Here the martyrdoms were enacted before Pope Paul and the Anglican Archbishop of Uganda, Ruanda and Burundi, Archbishop Erica Sablete. Both spoke to the assembly, and His Holiness left a silver wreath at the shrine and presented a crucifix to the Archbishop. The shrine is in a sloping field where the martrydons of 1885-87 took place. Pope Paul completed his trip by consecrating the shrine to the 22 Catholic Martyrs at Kampala before a crowd of 10,000. After Mass, he baptized 22 young Ugandan boys and girls at a nearby pond. Later at the Entebbe Airport, he announced the establishment of two funds; one of $200,000.00 for the training of catechists for Africa, and an unspecified sum (estimated by the press at one million dollars) for human development in Africa. Aboard an East African Airways jet, he departed and touched down at Rome, Ciampino Airport early August 3 (6.10 Eastern Daylight Time, P.M.) after a 52-hour trip. Greeted by a delegation from the Italian Government, he spoke of his journey as "a very beautiful and happy experience." He drove to Castel Gandolfo, where later he spoke from the balcony in glowing terms of his trip to Africa. Though meeting with several Nigerian and Biafran delegations, no apparent progress was made toward peace. The Biafrans expressed willingness. The Nigerians did not have the authority to negotiate. The stamps commemorating this journey were designed by Professor Lino Bianchi Barriviera, teacher of engraving at the Academy of Fine Arts at Rome, a graphic component of the Council of Art of the General Management of the Italian State. He is also the author of two other Vatican stamp designs for the opening of the II Vatican Council (349 and 352) issued October 30, 1962 The L.25 stamp shows Pope Paul Vi with a group of African youth. The L.55 stamp shows Pope Paul with the African Episcopate in vestments. The L.250 shows the continent of Africa with Kampala clearly marked. In the lower left is an olive branch, and what has been identified as both a compass rose and as a star. The questionable object is most likely a star. The symbolism would be that the star indicates heaven, the reward of martyrs, symbolized by the olive branch. Hindsight could also make the olive branch symbolize the peace that Pope Paul sought to bring about between Nigeria and Biafra. We refer you to the stamps issued under Pope Paul VI on March 16, 1965, Commemorating the Canonization of the Uganda Martyrs, Scott #404-409. Technical Details: Scott Catalogue - 473 - 475 Date Issued - 31 July 1969 Face Value - 25 l, 55 l, 250 l Perforations - 13.5x14 Printer - The Italian State Printing Works |
| (From Vatican Notes Volume XVIII, Number 3, November - December 1969, Pages 1-2) |
