Sacred Flame for private execution, in keeping with custom. As he was being burnt, Lwanga said to the Guardian, "It is as if you are pouring water on me. Please repent and become a Christian like me." Twelve Catholic boys and men and nine Anglicans were then burnt alive. Another Catholic, Mbaga Tuzinde, was clubbed to death for refusing to renounce Christianity, and his body was thrown into the furnace to be burned along with those of Lwanga and the others. The ire of the king was particularly inflamed against the Christians because they refused to participate in sexual acts with him. Lwanga, in particular, had protected the pages. The executions were also motivated by Mwanga's broader efforts to avoid foreign threats to his power. According to Assa Okoth, Mwanga's overriding preoccupation was for the "integrity of his kingdom", and perceived that men such as Lwanga were working with foreigners in "poisoning the very roots of his kingdom". Not to have taken any action could have led to suggestions that he was a weak sovereign. Veneration Lwanga senior and the other Catholics who accompanied him in death were canonized on 18 October 1964 by Pope Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council. "To honor these African saints, Paul VI became the first reigning pope to visit sub-Saharan Africa when he toured Uganda in July 1969, a visit that included a pilgrimage to the site of the martyrdom at Namugongo." The Basilica of the Uganda Martyrs was built at the site of the executions and serves as their shrine. The Brothers of St. Charles Lwanga senior (Luganda: Bannakaroli Brothers) were founded in 1927 as an indigenous religious congregation of Ugandan men committed to providing education to the disadvantaged youth of their country. In the United States, Lwanga is honored by St. Charles Anglican Cathedral in the Diocese of Cascadia. See also Catholic Church in Uganda List of Catholic saints Saint Charles Lwanga, patron saint archive References External links The Uganda Martyrs from the August 2008 issue of The Word Among Us magazine 1860 births 1886 deaths 19th-century Christian saints 19th-century executions by Uganda 19th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Anglican saints Buganda Canonizations by Pope Paul VI Converts to Roman Catholicism from pagan religions Executed Ugandan people People celebrated in the Lutheran liturgical calendar People executed by Buganda People executed by Uganda by burning Ugandan Roman Catholic saints