Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kibeho (Agenzia Fides) - Today 28 November, in Kibeho (Rwanda), in the diocese of Gikongoro, there were important celebrations to mark the end of a special Jubilee Year on the occasion of the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Kibeho on 28 November 1981 (see Agenzia Fides 6/11/2006 and 29/11/2006).
Fr. Zbigniew Pawlowski, SAC, rector of the Shrine of Notre-Dame de Kibeho, reported that the Liturgy was presided by Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, a guest of the Rwandan Bishops' Conference. The Mass was celebrated in the open air and concelebrants included the Apostolic Nuncio, all the Bishops of Rwanda and some from neighbouring countries, many priests from dioceses all over Rwanda and also from other countries. Many religious men and women, state authorities and a large crowd of faithful were present.
The presence of a high ranking representative of the Holy See, Cardinal Dias, was seen as a sign of Pope Benedict XVI's pastoral concern for the Catholic Church in Rwanda in general and especially for the Shrine of Notre-Dame de Kibeho. It was also recalled that under the pontificate of Pope John Paul II the then prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, presided the consecration and official inauguration of this Marian Shrine at the heart of Africa (see Fides 31/5/2003).
Our Lady appeared at Kibeho for the first time on 28 November 1981 to Alphonsine Mumureke, a 16 year old school girl. The Blessed Mother introduced herself as "Ndi Nyina wa Jambo "("I am the Mother of the Word"). On 29 November 1981 Our Lady appeared again and in December that year the phenomenon happened almost every Saturday. From 16 January 1982 onwards the apparitions continued in public in the school yard and privately only for the children in the dormitory. The Blessed Virgin appeared for the last time to Alphonsine in 1989. On 12 January 1982 Mary appeared to 17 year old Nathalie Mukamazimpaka, and on 2 March 1982 Our Lady appeared to Marie-Claire Mukangango (21 at the time), one of the most sceptical. During the visions the girls received messages. On 15 August 1982 the girls saw what was later said to be a pre-figuration of the Rwandan genocide in 1994. In other visions Mary smiled and asked people to love her as a mother who cares for all her children and calls them to conversion, prayer (the rosary la), humility and love for others. The apparitions were approved by Bishop Augustin Misago of the diocese of Gikongoro, where Kibeho is situated, with a declaration made public on 29 June 2001. Since 1982 there have been pilgrimages, conversions and healings at Kibeho. Alphonsine Mumureke, the first visionary is a Poor Clare nun veggente; Nathalie Mukamazimpaka still lives at Kibeho, a witness of those miraculous events and Marie-Claire Mukangango was killed with her husband during the genocide in 1994.
In these 25 years Kibeho has assumed an international role, with Catholics coming from all over the country and from neighbouring countries Burundi, R.D. Congo, Uganda and Tanzania, and also from the United States, India and Japan and various countries in Europe. “Hundreds of thousands of people come to Kibeho on important Marian feasts such as the Assumption or precisely 28 November - says Fr. Zbigniew Pawlowski -. However this Jubilee year has broken the record for the number of pilgrims”.
A major difficulty in Kibeho. is a scarcity of infrastructures for pilgrims who suffer all kinds of weather. "However- the rector said - they continue to increase in number every year”. There are various communities of women religious in Kibeho and others are preparing to open houses there. The Rector asks men and women of goodwill to help build structures necessary for pastoral and social activities at the Shrine of Kibeho. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 28/11/2007; righe 51, parole 723)
