A precolonial King in Buganda killed some Baptized Africans in 1884. In the 1960s, the Church wanted to be seen as inclusive and not racist so assured that the long ago crime will be remembered. In response the Pope is shown on equal footing with another precolonial King of a total cesspool of a country. Perhaps not so well thought out. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
The arrogance of King for not much longer Mwambutsa IV of Burundi must have known no bounds. There was not actually a meeting of the two, but a real picture of someone meeting the Pope usually shows some defferance. It is interesting to think that the Burundi King thought the story of an old crime by another King was one he wanted to emphasize. It may come down to the old folkway that a King has special powers granted him by God. Mwambutsa did not, he was overthrown two years later.
Todays stamp is issue A11, a 14 Franc stamp issued by the Kingdom of Burundi on November12th, 1964. It was a 6 stamp issue in various denominations celebrating the Canonization of 22 victims who died for their faith in Buganda in 1884. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 25 cents.
Buganda, modern day Uganda, stayed under local rule longer than most. That does not mean that there were not attempts by white missionaries to convert the locals to Christianity. A Catholic group of such “White Fathers” got to work in Buganda in 1878. This did not please the King, none of the 60s sources list which King, who ordered the killing of any local black who was baptized. The death toll according to white father records was 22. The deaths are reported to have sped up rather than slowed down the progress of Christianity in Buganda. It did not seem to hurt the King of Buganda, as he still had some ceremonial powers in Uganda at the time of this stamp. See https://the-philatelist.com/2018/12/05/uganda-1942-a-british-bridge-in-self-governed-buganda/ ,Canonization of course requires later miracles attributed to the future saints. 2 Catholic nuns, the “White Sisters” reported in 1941 that intervention from the Buganda victims had given them a miracle in ending their heart problems. The canonization happened in 1964 and the Church hoped it would signal their inclusiveness. It also seemed to a have a big dose of good old fashioned white man’s burden.
King Mwambutsa was a child King with a regency before the arrival of Belgium in the area after World War I. He was left in place by the Belgians and upon independence of Burundi in 1962 he really had his power back. He was a Tutsi in an area with many Hutus though and in the absence of Belgium, he had trouble ruling those who had no allegiance to him. In 1966 there was an attempted coup and the good King departed for Switzerland leaving his son behind as a Regent. A second coup later in 1966 ended that and a Republic was declared. Burundi has been and still is one of the poorest places on Earth. The King lived out his days in Switzerland. In 2011, his remains were exhumed with the idea of giving him a proper state funeral in Burundi. His family fought this in Swiss court, he had specifically stated that his remains were never to return to Burundi. After a long court case, his remains we reinterred in Switzerland. See https://the-philatelist.com/2017/11/08/the-prince-who-was-assasinated-after-fighting-for-independence/ .
Well my drink is empty and I am left pondering the Catholic practice of declaring Saints. A stamp collector is always in favor of remembering worthy humans, but at what point does it start to resemble the supposed granting of special powers as with those silly old African Kings? Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting.