Modern Roman Catholic Mission and the Legacy of Uganda’s Emmanuel Cardinal Nsubuga

Arguably the most important Roman Catholic leader in postcolonial Uganda, Emmanuel Cardinal Nsubuga is largely unknown outside the country. As archbishop of Kampala between 1966 and 1990, Nsubuga hosted the first papal visit to sub-Saharan Africa in 1969 and started the Uganda Martyrs’ Shrine, now the largest pilgrimage destination in East Africa. Living under the authoritarian regimes of Milton Obote and Idi Amin, Nsubuga embodied three key emphases in modern Catholic mission in the public sphere: the option for the poor, ecumenism, and resistance to political dictatorship