Saint Kizito, the youngest martyr
Saint Kizito is the youngest of the group of 22 martyrs of Uganda, beatified by Benedict XV on June 6, 1920 and canonized by Pope Paul VI in Rome on October 18, 1964.
“Kizito, born in 1873 in Uganda, became a page in King Mwanga’s court. Joseph Mukassa, the head of the pages, had received the teaching of the White Father Missionaries, Father Lourdel and Father Livinhac. It was Joseph Mukassa who secretly taught the pages about Christ. Kizito was one of them. Having discovered this secret teaching, King Mwanga became fiercely hostile to Christians and had Joseph Mukassa burned alive in 1886. After his death many catechumens, including Kizito asked for baptism. The young Kizito only wanted to be like Christ.
On June 3, 1886,
the king ordered him to be burned alive with other Christians. Kizito was 13. Before disappearing in the flames, he recited the Our Father, echoed by others sentenced to die in the fire. ‘Goodbye my friends, we are on the right path,’ were his last words. After his martyrdom, hundreds of people have asked to be baptized.
Roman Martyrology
