03 June - Saint Charles Lwanga, born in 1865 and died on 3 June 1886, is a Ugandan martyr of the Baganda ethnic group. Born in the Buganda kingdom, in the south of present-day Uganda, he was the chief page in the court of King Mwanga II.

Mwanga demanded that his subjects converted to Christianity abandon their new faith, and executed many Catholics and Anglicans between 1885 and 1887; many of them resided in or were very close to the king's court, including the head of pages, Charles Lwanga.

Following a massacre of Anglican Christians in 1885, the Catholic who had been entrusted by the missionaries with the leadership of the Christians and who resided at court, Joseph Mukasa, blamed the king for the crime. Mwanga had Mukasa beheaded and arrested all his followers. As their execution was imminent, Charles Lwanga baptized those of his students who had begun their catechumenate, before being burned alive on June 3, 1886. According to the canonization trial, one of the reasons for the king's anger was the refusal of Christians to participate in homosexual acts.

Charles Lwanga and those who died at his side were canonized in 1964 by Pope Paul VI. The martyrdom of the Anglicans was also recognized by the Pope. Today, Charles Lwanga - along with the other martyrs of Uganda - is the object of special devotion in Africa, where many schools and parishes are under his protection.