ONLINE FIRST
published on June 18, 2025
Frank Ojwang

https://doi.org/10.5840/asrr2025617128
Understanding Canonization Linkage to Community Betrayal
Deconstructing the Sainthood of Charles Lwanga and Companion Martyrs of Uganda
It is the dream of every intentional and dedicated Catholic faithful to become a saint. Ugandan saint Charles Lwanga and his companions were canonized by Pope Paul VI. This article uses deconstruction method of secondary data and the concept of institutional betrayal to analyse narratives available in the archives of church history. The deconstruction, as proposed by Jacques Derrida, is used as a critical theory and philosophical approach to empirically establish whether Charles Lwanga and companions are traitors or saints according to the Baganda tribe. The article argues that missionaries used a reward tactic to facilitate a betrayal that is in favour of Christianity to be perceived as a good deed worthy of an immortal reward, by canonizing traitors of Baganda for dying for the Christian faith, which was a foreign culture to the Baganda tribal culture at the time of Charles Lwanga and his companions¡¯ death. This article finds that canonization is a complementary strategy of colonization.