The blood of martyrs such as St. Charles Lwanga and his 21 canonized companions in Uganda continues to serve as the seed of the Church, according to a priest from the missionary order that converted St. Charles before his martyrdom on June 3, 1886.

“They passed on to the Kingdom of Heaven for all eternity,” said Society of the Missionaries of Africa Father Barthelemy Bazemo, during his homily at the June 3 Saints of Africa Celebration Mass at St. Augustine Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., held on the feast day of St. Charles Lwanga and his companions. “When we celebrate them, we celebrate Mother Africa.”

Father Bazemo’s order, commonly called the “White Fathers,” because of the color of their cassocks, brought the Catholic faith to the Kingdom of Buganda, now known as Uganda, in 1879. It was not long before the zeal of the converts exceeded that of the five missionaries from France who served them, who were eventually kicked out of Buganda.

Father Bazemo, a native of Ivory Coast raised in Burkina Faso and dressed in red vestments, told the congregation about how St. Charles Lwanga and his companions were not willing to stand by as King Mwanga II engaged in pedophilia and other sexually abusive acts on those working in his royal court. Most of the martyrs were burned to death in a funeral pyre after being marched 37 miles to their death. Four of the martyrs had just been baptized the day before, including the youngest, St. Kizito, a 14-year old boy.

Father Bazemo delivered the first part of his homily in French. Intercessory prayers at Mass were also offered in Akan, Luganda, Swahili, and Wolof. Africa is a continent with 54 sovereign countries, where hundreds of languages are spoken.

Public veneration and intercessory prayers to canonized saints illustrate the universal call to holiness in the Catholic Church, according to Father Bazemo.

The Holy Spirit, or Saint Esprit, Choir performed at the Mass, its members standing behind the altar, in front of the tabernacle.

Members of the parish Ladies Sodality, Knights of Columbus council, as well as Knights of Peter Claver, also attended the Mass. Father Patrick Smith, pastor of St. Augustine Catholic Church and main celebrant of the Mass, thanked them, as well as the Africa and Diaspora group and Liturgical Ministries of his parish for their roles in the Mass.

As he blessed the food for a buffet luncheon in the St. Augustine Room that took place after Mass, Father Patrick Smith called on the “unity of the (African) diaspora.”

A native of Washington, D.C., and pastor at St. Augustine since 2004, Father Smith said that no Black Americans have been canonized as saints in the Catholic Church, an issue he feels needs to be rectified. “We know what that’s about,” he added.

There are six active causes for Black Catholics who lived in the United States:

Venerable Father Augustus Tolton, the first publicly known Black Roman Catholic priest in the United States; Venerable Sister Henriette Delille, who founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family; Venerable Pierre Toussaint, a formerly enslaved philanthropist who supported many Catholic charitable works; Servant of God Mother Mary Lange, the foundress and first superior general of the Oblate Sisters of Providence; Servant of God Julia Greeley, who after her emancipation from enslavement joined the Secular Franciscan Order and promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; and Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, a convert to Catholicism who joined the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration and who was a noted educator and evangelist.

“He’s an example for us to follow,” Chris Dickson, speaking of St. Charles Lwanga, told the Catholic Standard. Dickson converted to Catholicism at St. Augustine in 2018. A parishioner of St. Augustine who attended Mass his wife, April-Joy, he enjoyed experiencing the different cultures present at the Mass.

“He’s a hero, and he gave his life,” said Benedict Goudiaby, a native of Senegal who attends St. Martin of Tours Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland. St. Charles Lwanga was a 25-year old catechist when he was martyred, and he had only converted to Catholicism the year before.

Vivianne Rotich attended the Mass and knew about St. Charles Lwanga because she was baptized in St. Kizito Catholic Church, in her native Kenya. “It was good to see the diversity of the people,” she said.