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The ‘Shrine of the Martyrs’ is located in Namugongo, which is a township about 16 kilometres north-east of Kampala, Uganda’s capital city and one of the largest metropolitan areas in Africa. There are in fact two shrines at Namugongo, one Anglican and one Catholic, and they commemorate the loss of 45 young men who were burned to death in 1886 by the King of Buganda for refusing to renounce Christianity. It’s a moving and uniquely African site of devotion. Such is its importance that in 2015 a crowd of two million gathered to pray there with Pope Francis. But this incredible site of Christian pilgrimage hides a deeper story, because many of the men who were burned in the fires of martyrdom were courtiers who had refused the king’s sexual advances. The Shrines at Namugongo reflect not only the power of Christian devotion but also the complex and difficult relationship of Ugandan same-sex sexuality.

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