On October 31, St Mary’s Cathedral, Rubaga, will be celebrating 100 years since its consecration.
The building of this church started way back in 1914, and its consecration took place 11 years later in 1925. The 100-year celebration count starts from 1925 to 2025. This year’s celebrations will be held under the theme, ‘The Temple of God is Sacred. You are that Temple’.
This year, 2025, is a jubilee year for the archdiocese. It is the year of the Centenary Anniversary of the consecration of the cathedral (1925-2025). The date of the consecration, therefore, has coincided with the centenary birth anniversary on October 31, 1925.
In an interview with this publication, Fr Richard Nyombi, the coordinator of the Society of Missionaries of Africa in Uganda under Kampala Archdiocese, said the cathedral has succeeded other cathedrals. ‘And in the series of the cathedrals, it is the tenth cathedral with the first cathedral being built in 1885,’ Fr Nyombi said.
Making of a cathedral
At that time, the whole of Uganda was one diocese, going up to Kisumu in Kenya, and in Tanganyika, stretching to Mwanza. According to Fr Nyombi, the first church was built by the White Fathers in Nabulagala and the second in Nalukolongo, both suburbs of Kampala in Rubaga Division. In Nalukolongo, they stayed for three years, from 1885 to October 1888, when the war between the Christians (Protestants and Catholics) and the Muslims broke out, which was eventually won by the Muslims and the Missionaries were expelled. When they left the Mission in Nalukolongo, it was destroyed, and they were given land at Nabunnya, near the present-day Pope Paul II Memorial Hotel.
The third church was built here in 1890, which they used between 1890 and 1891. At Nabunnya, Father Lourdel (Mapeera) died in 1890. Fr Nyombi describes Nabunnya as a grass-thatched cathedral with walls built using mud and reeds, which did not last long. By then, Kabaka Mutesa I had already died, and the White Fathers asked Kabaka Mwanga for land on Rubaga Hill.
Kabaka Mutesa I, had also moved away from Rubaga Hill to Kasubi-Nabulagala, where he died. Kabaka Mwanga gave them the land at the end of 1890, and in 1891, they started building the third cathedral at Rubaga. In 1891, they moved in, relocating from Nabunya.
The third cathedral was also built out of mud and reeds and thatched with grass. Other churches followed up to the ninth church, but all were not long-lasting, and they were weakened either by rain, fire, or earthquake, among others. In 1901, a stronger church was built, which was later replaced by the current one.
Rubaga is built
The construction of Rubaga cathedral started in 1914. It was built using bricks. Following the killing of the Uganda Martyrs in 1885, 1886, and 1887, the first bishop, Henry Streicher, proposed in 1901 to build a beautiful cathedral that would portray Uganda as the land of the martyrs, like cathedrals in Europe.
According to Fr Nyombi, Bishop Streicher called his curia , which included the parish priests, among others, who discussed the church project he wanted to be built. Among those in the meeting was the then leader of the laity, Stanislaus Mugwanya and all agreed to go ahead with the project, which would give glory to God.
A committee was put in place, and Bishop John Forbes, who was to succeed Bishop Streicher, was the chief fundraiser. Ugandans were trained on how to make bricks that were used to build the church, and most of the materials were produced locally in the areas of Wakaliga, Kisubi and Nalukolongo.
To achieve that, the White Fathers started St Joseph Technical School in Kisubi in 1911 to train those who were going to build the cathedral. A pilot church was first built in Kisubi, and within two years, the church was finished. In 1914, the building of the bigger present-day cathedral in Rubaga started.
Built amid challenges
The construction works faced challenges following the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 as the fundraising could not go on in Europe and other places, Works were halted until 1917 when the construction resumed until 1925.
The millions of bricks and other materials to the site were carried by hand, lifted on the head, and with carts since these were the available means of transport at that time. According to Fr Nyombi, ‘One of the interesting stories is that when Mr Stanislas Mugwanya, who was a regent of the Kabaka Daudi Chwa, passed by the kiln where they were making the bricks, he would carry two or three on his head.’
In 1925, the cathedral was ready, and on October 31, 1925, it was consecrated by Bishop Streicher. In attendance were Kabaka Daudi Chwa and seminarians from Katigondo and Bukalasa. Fr Nyombi says the church is a symbol of the living community, the believers.