Namirembe Cathedral
Namirembe Cathedral is the tale of Uganda’s oldest cathedral: This brick red dome is an Anglican cathedral- Church of Uganda and is also the oldest. The cathedral is also known as the st Paul’s cathedral. It was built in 1890 on the Namirembe/mengo hill one of the major hills of the Kampala city which rises out of the Kampala pollution. Kabaka Daudi Chwa ll presided over the ground breaking ceremony of the Namirembe cathedral as well as the consecration ceremony. The traditionally western architecture is impressive finished with wonderful stained glass
The history of Namirembe Cathedral is not far from the history of the Anglican faith. After the coming of the first group of missionaries, in response to Stanley’s call to spread the gospel in Uganda, many Ugandans were receptive to the gospel and this saw the baptism of the first Anglican in Uganda on 18th march 1882. Thereafter the Christian faith was faced with a number of challenges that included the murder of three young men on January 31st, 1885 for their faith. Marko Kakumba, Nuwa Serwanga and Yusufu Lugalama died at Busega. In 1974 The Most Rev. Janani Luwum was ordained as Archbishop of Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Boga-Zaire but was unfortunately murdered in February 1977 by president Idi Amin Dada. The following decade was a terrible chapter in Uganda’s history, but the church constantly grew and developed with many new dioceses being formed each day. This pattern of growth has continued to the present day with the latest Diocese of North Karamoja being inaugurated in 2007
Inside Namirembe Cathedral there are the remains of Bishop Hannington who was murdered in October 1885 just before the gospel of Mathew was printed in Luganda as well as the cooks who begun Mengo hospital. The diocese is headed by a bishop: Rt Rev Wilberforce Kityo Luwalira along with 103 other clergies in active service 7 of which are women and 3 are deaf.
At the top of Namirembe Cathedral hill you will have a spectacular 360 degrees sight of Kampala city. With the recently concluded renovation the cathedral looks great from the inside to the outside.
You can drop in for the English services at 06:45 and 08:30 or 10:00 o’clock service in Luganda on Sunday at Church of Uganda . The worship here is great.
