Biography
John Mary Muzeeyi
About John Mary Muzeeyi
John Mary Muzeeyi was the last of the twenty-two canonized Uganda Martyrs to be killed. His death came on January 27, 1887, months after the larger executions remembered at Namugongo. Local Catholic reporting identifies Jjugula as the place where he died and where pilgrims continue to honor him.
He had served at the royal court and taught other Christians. The Norwegian Catholic account remembers him as a friend of Joseph Mukasa and a former page of King Muteesa.
Meg Hunter-Kilmer’s account describes his commitment to poverty, chastity, obedience and care for the sick. During the persecution he followed the missionaries’ instruction to hide. Boys whom he had helped free from slavery accompanied him, and he continued to teach them while they sought safety. His skills as a traditional healer also helped him care for them. The account places these months of hiding before his eventual return to the king and execution.
Leonard Sanyu’s study records his beheading on January 27, 1887, citing the history of the Uganda Martyrs by John F. Faupel. The January date is also the one observed at his shrine.
His care for others remains central to local devotion. During a visit reported by Deborah Laker in 2023, a choir director at the shrine described him as patron of doctors, nurses and students. The director connected these patronages with the remembered healer and teacher. Laker’s report documents this living devotional tradition; it does not establish a modern medical qualification for a nineteenth-century practitioner.
In January 2025, pilgrims gathered at Jjugula for Mass led by Archbishop Paul Ssemogerere. Radio Sapientia reported both the commemoration and work to improve the pilgrimage site. A year later, the same Catholic station reported another feast-day gathering, led by the archdiocese’s vicar general. These observances keep his individual memory alongside the shared feast of the Uganda Martyrs.
Paul VI canonized him with his companions on October 18, 1964.
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