Archbishop of Uganda who was killed by Idi Amin's military regime on February 16, 1977. Having signed a pastoral memorandum protesting the persecution of Christians and the murder of political prisoners, Luwum was arrested and murdered (officially reported as a car accident, universally understood as assassination). A prophetic witness against tyranny and a defender of the vulnerable.

African martyr; defender of the persecuted against state tyranny; symbol of prophetic episcopal leadership in the face of systematic violence; witness to the suffering church in modern Africa.

Janani Luwum was born in 1922 in Ngora, Uganda. Educated at Makerere University and ordained to the Anglican priesthood, he became Bishop of North Uganda (1969-1974) and subsequently Archbishop of Uganda (1974-1977). During Idi Amin's brutal dictatorship, Luwum became a courageous voice for the persecuted. In 1977, he and other bishops drafted and signed a memorandum addressed to President Amin documenting the widespread murder of innocent civilians and the persecution of Christians. On February 16, 1977, shortly after delivering the memorandum to Amin personally, Luwum disappeared. The government claimed he died in a car accident, but evidence overwhelmingly indicates he was executed. His martyrdom made him an international symbol of Christian resistance to tyranny and became a defining moment in African Anglican history.

• Martyr
• Bishop