Opening up of the missionary field in Uganda by the Mill Hill Missionaries in Uganda

According to history, explorers such as Speke, Grant and Henry Marton Stanley members of the Royal Geographical Society were engaged in many discoveries while in Uganda. In 1875, Henry Marton had arrived in Uganda; he was shocked at the level of civilization and wrote a letter to London for the white men to come to Uganda and assured them that they would be given what they wanted. In 1877, the Church Missionary Society (CMS) – the Protestants, responded very fast and came to Uganda. After two years, in 1879, the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers) followed. At first, life seemed difficult for these two groups of missionaries because the Muslims had already settled in Buganda and had converts. Secondly Kabaka Muteesa did not get what he expected from the missionaries; he wanted guns and not religion. Mutesa later died in 1884 and he was succeeded by his son Mwanga at the age of 18. Mwanga was a ruthless leader who never wanted religious groups and he massacred around 200 Christians including the Ugandan Martyrs.

Christians deported Kabaka from the throne and was exiled to Seychelles Island on Lake Victoria.  However, he wanted to regain his position as king of Buganda and sought protection from the British in exchange for some of his power, a request that was granted him. Most Protestant Missionaries were English speaking from the Church of England and they were competing with the White Fathers who were French speakers.  Since the king wanted his subjects to learn English, the Protestants who spoke English, gained an upper hand in Buganda. This caused wars between Catholics and Protestants. Later, the Catholic hierarchy in Rome decided that Missionaries from Britain should also come to Uganda so as to do away with the mentality that Catholics have to be identified with the French. This would also help to end the war and convince the King that the French were not taking over Buganda.  This resulted in the coming of the Mill Hill Missionaries, English speakers, to Uganda.

The coming of the Mill Hill Fathers to Uganda

The Mill Hill Missionaries, English speakers, were the answer and choice to end these wars between the Protestant English missionaries and the Catholic French missionaries.  “In order to secure peace and to dispel the erroneous notion that England spelt Protestant, the Superior General of the white Fathers’ Society requested the S.C (Sacred Congregation in Rome) of the propaganda Fide that English Catholic missionaries should be sent to Uganda.”[1]  Thanks be to God, “thus it was that Bishop Henry Hanlon was appointed by the Holy See as the first Vicar Apostolic of the Upper Nile Vicariate. He and his first caravan of five Mill Hill Fathers: Fathers Prendergast, Mathews, Plunkett and Kesterns arrived in Kampala, the capital of Kabaka Mwanga’s Kingdom, on September 10^th 1895 after the epic journey on foot from the coast of East Africa to the deep inter land, a journey of over 800 miles.”[2]

The Mill Hill Missionaries finally settled and pitched their base at Nsambya Hill, establishing what is now known as Nsambya Parish. Nsambya hill is known as the home for the Mill Hill Missionaries. These pioneer missionaries to the Ugandan mission immediately erected a Church and built several schools, especially boys’ schools.  In the course of their mission they realized they had a lot to handle and needed the help of Religious Sisters back at home. In 1902, Rt. Rev. Henry Hanlon: Bishop of the then Kampala Diocese presented his needs to Cardinal Vaughan, the Founder of the Mill Hill Missionaries, concerning the challenges they had encountered in carrying out the services they were rendering and that they realized the need for the Sisters to come and join them in their missionary work.

Invitation to the Franciscan Sisters of Mill Hill Abbey

Bishop Hanlon and his companions had discovered low women’s standards, child domestic violence, women dying during child labour, and children working overinvolved in domestic chores. Bishop Hanlon sought that the Sisters would help best in this area to save and support these poor African women and their children. He placed this request before His Superior Cardinal Vaughan back at home who pleaded with the superior of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Mary’s Abbey to give him some Sisters to come to Uganda for mission and evangelization alongside the Mill Hill Fathers. He asked for a few Sisters to start this foundation and mission. This seemed to have been a night mare for Mother Abbess since the Sisters were not enough for this appeal. Bishop Hanlon too expressed the challenges in the African mission to Mother Abbess such as “hostile tribes, earth quakes, floods and other tropical disasters and therefore pleaded with her, to give him Sisters “to share these in the cause of Christ and his Church.”[3] The Sisters heard of this request and despite their limited number, this issue starred a captivating interest in their thoughts for they had just heard about Uganda from the reports of explorers.

Selection of the Sisters to come to Uganda

Mother Agnes, the Abbess, reflected on the mission of Christ and the challenges that Bishop Hanlon expressed and she consented to his request. She sought to allow five Sisters and one Novice for this noble mission to Uganda. She thereafter called for all the Sisters in the community to announce her choice of the Sisters going for the new mission to Africa – Uganda. “The names, gravely announced, were Mother Mary Paul, Sr. Mary Kevin, Sr. Mary Marcella, Sr. Mary Solano, Sr. Mary Andrea, and Sr. Mary Alexis.”[4]

As indicated in the photo, Sr. Mary Kevin was among the chosen Sisters to come to Uganda. At this moment her joy and dream came true of working among the black Negroes. It had been Sr. Mary Kevin’s desire always to work among the black Americans and it was clearly spelt in one of her dreams. However, the religious Institute she had joined was by nature semi monastic and the Sisters were not so much involved in active apostolic ministry of going out to encounter people. When Sr. Mary Kevin was professed, she concentrated on the work she was appointed to do in her community and therefore had no chance to get out and offer services due to the nature of their Institute in St. Mary’s Abbey-London. Their Institute had only one house in Baltimore-United States of America where the Sisters worked among the ex-slaves where she desired to be appointed for a long time. God’s plan for her was not to work among the black Americans but among the blacks in Africa. Her dreams were realized when she heard her names being read among those who were to be sent to the new mission in Africa. This brought her delight and joy. The Sisters later prepared for their new mission to Uganda with excitement of being chosen among the many who desired to come to Africa for this new mission and expedition, and more so going to Uganda, a country they had been hearing about from the explores.

[1] Sr. M. Louis O’Hara, OSF. An Unfinished Canticle: The Story of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa, 1980. Unpublished, p. 10.
[2] An Unfinished Canticle: The Story of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa, p. 10.
[3] Ibid. p. 10.
[4] Ibid. p. 12.