The Archdiocese of Milwaukee invites the faithful to an African-style worship celebration on June 4, a day after the feast of Ugandan martyrs.

“An annual celebration that brings together the African communities in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, lifting their unique and varied contributions to the spreading of the Gospel,” the archdiocese posted on Facebook this week. “Experience the vibrant African style of worship and share African foods and fellowship.”

The event starts at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, at Three Holy Women Catholic Parish (St. Rita Site), which is at 1617 N. Cass St. in Milwaukee.

It comes one day after the feast of the Martyrs of Uganda. Britannica described the history of the event, saying Catholic missionaries first traveled to Buganda, which is part of Uganda, in 1879. Mutesa I, who ruled Buganda at the time, tolerated the Catholics and other Christians. But his successor, Mwanga, launched a campaign against them and ended up having all of the missionaries beheaded and massacred between 1885 and 1887. In total, 45 Catholic and Anglican missionaries were killed. 

Pope Paul VI canonized the 22 Catholic martyrs in 1964, Britannica said. 

The make up of the Catholic Church in America was predominantly white until Father Herman Porter convened the first meeting of the Black Catholic Clergy Caucus in Detroit following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., a 2018 Smithsonian Magazine report said. That meeting brought together 58 African American priests who were trying to determine how to move forward as black Catholics in such a racially tense time. The Black Catholic population in the U.S. grew to almost a million in 1975 from less than 300,000 in 1940. 

Today, there are approximately 3 million Black Catholics in the U.S., a recent report from Pew Research Center said. One quarter of Black Catholics who attend Mass at least a few times a year go to a church where most of the other worshippers are Black.