The Catholic Church in Burundi is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
There are about four million Catholics—around two-thirds of the total population. There are seven dioceses, including two archdioceses.
Main source:and Air University
The first attempt to spread Catholicism to the Burundians was at Rumonge on July 30, 1879, and lasted until May 4, 1881, when the two White Fathers, Deniaud and Promaux, were killed by the Burundians. More White Fathers returned in 1884, but this time to Bujumbura. Once again they had to leave due to the violence instigated by Arab slave traders. A third attempt near Buzige in 1891 was also thwarted by the slave traders. In a fourth attempt in 1896, Fathers Van Der Burght and Van Der Bresen were only able to stay six weeks and then had to flee. However, they returned to Burundi near Buzige in November 1896. A few years later, in January 1898, Father Van Der Bresen died from a fever, and that same day the mission station was burned to the ground by a violent storm. Subsequently, Father Van Der Burght left the following month. [1]
The first permanent mission in Burundi was established on May 5, 1898, at Mugera. Muyaga was burned down twice by a chief who considered the Fathers to be enemies, once on the 14th of August 1898, and another the 18th of March 1899. Nevertheless, it was rebuilt again in May 1899. Another separate mission was established at Mugera in February 1899. A man by the name Mwami Mwezi IV Gisabo tried to run them off his property by the use of charms and supernatural threats, but he was told by another sorcerer that he should stop because Imana would protect them. Missions continued to pop up in places such as Buhonga in 1902, Kanyinya 1904, Rugari 1909, and Buhoro 1912. All of these missions started during the German colonial rule from 1896 to 1916. [1]
When Belgium took over colonial rule from the Germans in 1916, more emphasis was placed on aiding the Catholic agenda. In the time period between 1916 and 1962, the year of Burundi's independence, Catholicism grew from 5,759 members to 1,517,817. Much of the health and education work was done through the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church was financed and supported exclusively through the Belgium colonial power until 1946, then the Protestant Church was able to garner some support, but was not nearly as prominent or important to them as the Catholic Church. [1]
During the colonial period, the Catholic Church did not promote ethnic divisions, but the Belgiums and Germans primarily favored the Tutsi when it came to mission services. The Rwandan Catholic Church to the north of Burundi, was also in favor of the Tutsi during the colonial period, but again the Catholic Church in Burundi remained largely unbiased. By the 1930s, Tutsi chiefs started converting to the Catholic faith like wildfire, and the Hutu were growing in numbers also.
Today, the Catholics in Burundi either are Tutsi, Hutu or Twa, and live in communities throughout the country. [2]
Despite having a previously large number of Tutsi chiefs convert to Catholicism, it was unable to convert the Tutsi King Mwambutsa. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Catholic church supported the Hutus, and as a result, the government revoked some of the privileges and powers which they had previously enjoyed, for example; "religious gatherings were prohibited without prior approval, the Church’s youth movement was banned, Catholic schools were nationalized, and the Catholic radio station and newspaper were closed". [2]
In 1987, all of this changed when power flipped into the hands of a Catholic as the result of a military coup, and Catholics were able to enjoy their previous freedoms.
The horrors of the Rwandan genocide left a stain on the Catholic Church as a whole, and even though the Burundi Catholic Church did not participate in the genocide, the Tutsis accused it of being a hindrance to their goals and the Hutus claimed that the Church was not doing enough to counter the discrimination which the Tutsis were practicing against them. [2]
Main Source: U.S. Department of State
At the beginning, close ties existed between the Catholic Church and the Belgium government, but there were complaints from the Catholics that the government was too secular and could do more, nevertheless, they were pleased to have the Belgiums in power rather than the Germans. [1]
Because the Catholic Church has such a powerful role within the country, during stressful political times has acted either as a balancer or an instigator to mounting tensions. A recent example in 2015 is when the then President, Pierre Nkurunziza, agreed to do a third term, when the constitution clearly stated only two terms were allowed. The Catholic Church did not shy away in reminding the President this, but he came back naming them "sponsors of terrorism". [3] However, following this slander the Church continued to press for peace and solving the conflict without bloodshed. [3]
In 2018, the Regulation and Conciliation of Religious Confessions was established as a sort of safety measure to make sure religious organizations complied with laws. In 2020 however, the Catholic Church chose to resign from partaking in the membership, and instead met with the government for a separate agreement. [4]
President Evariste Ndayismimiye, who is a Catholic, reached out to the Catholic Bishops in July 2020 to ask for support in government projects. While Burundi is formally a secular state, in practice a lot of things are influenced and overseen by the Catholic Church. For example, embassy officials regularly meet with Catholic religious leaders in order to discuss improving religious freedom in the country. [4]
In April, 2024, the Bishops of Burundi issued a statement denouning the climate of violence in the country, claiming that "forced disappearances and politically motivated murders make one shudder". [5]
“The realisation that there are people in our country who are cruelly murdered or abducted and disappear for political reasons or other macabre interests makes one shudder,” they wrote. “If a person is arrested by the competent authorities, justice must be administered in accordance with the law; the person must be held in a place that is known and accessible to family members.”
The bishops also denounced impunity and called on those responsible for the violence to "sheathe their swords again and set about building the nation by adopting ways that respect the dignity of human beings and favour dialogue and consultation".
The education was from the early onset, run by the Catholic Church, and it was expected during that beginning time that if a child went to school he would need to become Catholic. Also, boys were generally the only ones attending school during the initial days of the Catholic Church in Burundi. In turn, the Protestant Church started their own schools. [1]
Now, the official curriculum includes religion and morality classes, of which students can choose from. The religion classes are either taught with Catholic instruction, Protestant, or from Islam, and if they decide none of the above, morality classes are a substitute. [4]
The Catholic Church has typically discouraged the use of other indigenous medicines from healers. [6] Caritas Burundi is an organization founded by the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Burundi on May 20, 1962. It has been significant in the fight against Malaria by distributing insecticide-treated mosquito nets, and has also has helped deal with the effects of AIDS. [7] Another Catholic sponsored organization that has helped in the medical aspect as well as education, is Centre d'Entraide et de Developpement. [1]
During the early period of the Catholic Church, Catholics allowed people to drink beer and fermented juice such as banana juice or kaffir corn juice, whereas the Protestants did not. [1] Furthermore, if someone was baptized they were expected to attend services and confessions, if that person refused to pay their dues to the church or did not partake in confessions and sacraments, then their children would not be baptized. In addition, if a man took a second wife or divorced his wife, he was considered removed from the Church. [1]
In 1915, the number of baptized Catholics were 5,769. [1] According to estimates done in 2019 by the U.S. Department of State, the population in Burundi stands roughly at about 12.2 million, of which 62% identify as Catholic. [4]
The BurundiNational Defence Force is the state military organisation responsible for the defence of Burundi.
Burundi originated in the 16th century as a small kingdom in the African Great Lakes region. After European contact, it was united with the Kingdom of Rwanda, becoming the colony of Ruanda-Urundi - first colonised by Germany and then by Belgium. The colony gained independence in 1962, and split once again into Rwanda and Burundi. It is one of the few countries in Africa to be a direct territorial continuation of a pre-colonial era African state.
The Tutsi, also called Watusi, Watutsi or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi.
Jean-Baptiste Bagaza was a Burundian army officer and politician who ruled Burundi as president and de facto military dictator from November 1976 to September 1987.
Pierre Ngendandumwe was a Burundian politician. He was a member of the Union for National Progress and was an ethnic Hutu. On 18 June 1963, about a year after Burundi gained independence and amidst efforts to bring about political cooperation between Hutus and the dominant minority Tutsis, Ngendandumwe became Burundi's first Hutu prime minister. He served as prime minister until 6 April 1964 and then became prime minister again on 7 January 1965, serving until his death. Eight days after beginning his second term, he was assassinated by a Rwandan Tutsi refugee.
The Kingdom of Burundi, also known as Kingdom of Urundi, was a Bantu kingdom in the modern-day Republic of Burundi. The Ganwa monarchs ruled over both Hutus and Tutsis. Created in the 16th century, the kingdom was preserved under German and Belgian colonial rule in the late 19th and early 20th century and was an independent state between 1962 and 1966.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Burundi:
Christianity is the largest religion in Rwanda, with Protestantism and Catholicism being its main denominations. Around 3% of the population claims no religious affiliation, while another 3% practices other religions including traditional faiths. Approximately 2% of the populace is Muslim.
Burundi, officially the Republic of Burundi, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the junction between the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa, with population of over 14 million people. It is bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and southeast, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west; Lake Tanganyika lies along its southwestern border. The capital city is Gitega and the largest city is Bujumbura.
Religion in Burundi is diverse, with Christianity being the dominant faith. Catholicism is the largest Christian denomination in the country.
Christianity is the majority religion of Burundi. It is estimated to be the religion of between 75–94 percent of the Burundian population. Of these, the majority are Catholics and Protestants make up the remainder. The religion first entered the country under European colonial rule (1890–1962) and remains popular. There are estimated to be 557 separate Churches registered in the country.
Kabgayi is located just south of Gitarama in Muhanga District, Southern Province, Rwanda, 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Kigali. It was established as a Catholic Church mission in 1905. It became the center for the Roman Catholic Church in Rwanda and is the site of the oldest cathedral in the country and of Catholic seminaries, schools and a hospital. The church at first supported the Tutsi ruling elite, but later backed the Hutu majority. During the 1994 Rwandan genocide thousands of Tutsis who had taken refuge here were killed. Some survivors admire the courage of many priests who helped them during those difficult days, like Father Evergiste RUKEBESHA and many others. Later, some Hutus including three bishops and many priests were killed by the rebels RPF soldiers. A mass grave beside the hospital is marked by a memorial. Inside the Basilica are kept the bodies of the three bishops killed by FPR rebels. Two of them were refused by the Rwandan government to be transferred in their own cathedrals.
John Joseph Hirth was a Catholic bishop in German East Africa, known as the founder of the church in Rwanda.
Léon-Paul Classe, M.Afr. was a Catholic priest who was Vicar Apostolic of the Apostolic Vicariate of Ruanda, in what is now Rwanda, from 1922 until his death in 1945. During his time as a missionary priest and then bishop a great many Rwandans were converted to Christianity. Classe was influential in persuading the Belgian colonial administration to favor the Tutsis as a ruling caste in the country over the Hutu majority.
An attempted coup d'etat in Burundi took place between 18–19 October 1965, when a group of ethnic Hutu officers from the Burundian military and gendarmerie attempted to overthrow Burundi's government. The rebels were frustrated with the king (mwami) of Burundi, Mwambutsa IV, who had repeatedly attempted to cement his control over the government and bypassed parliamentary norms despite Hutu electoral gains. Although the prime minister was shot and wounded, the coup failed due to the intervention of a contingent of troops led by Captain Michel Micombero.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Bujumbura, Burundi.
The Ikiza, or the Ubwicanyi (Killings), was a series of mass killings—often characterised as a genocide—which were committed in Burundi in 1972 by the Tutsi-dominated army and government, primarily against educated and elite Hutus who lived in the country. Conservative estimates place the death toll of the event between 100,000 and 150,000 killed, while some estimates of the death toll go as high as 300,000.
On 21 October 1993, a coup was attempted in Burundi by a Tutsi–dominated army faction. The coup attempt resulted in assassination of Hutu President Melchior Ndadaye and the deaths of other officials in the constitutional line of presidential succession. François Ngeze was presented as the new President of Burundi by the army, but the coup failed under domestic and international pressure, leaving Prime Minister Sylvie Kinigi in charge of the government.
The Bugesera invasion, also known as the Bloody Christmas, was a military attack which was conducted against Rwanda by Inyenzi rebels who aimed to overthrow the government in December 1963. The Inyenzi were a collection of ethnically Tutsi exiles who were affiliated with the Rwandan political party Union Nationale Rwandaise (UNAR), which had supported Rwanda's deposed Tutsi monarchy. The Inyenzi opposed Rwanda's transformation upon independence from Belgium into a state run by the ethnic Hutu majority through the Parti du Mouvement de l'Emancipation Hutu (PARMEHUTU), an anti-Tutsi political party led by President Grégoire Kayibanda. In late 1963, Inyenzi leaders decided to launch an invasion of Rwanda from their bases in neighbouring countries to overthrow Kayibanda. While an attempted assault in November was stopped by the government of Burundi, early in the morning on 21 December 1963, several hundred Inyenzi crossed the Burundian border and captured the Rwandan military in camp in Gako, Bugesera. Bolstered with seized arms and recruited locals, the Iyenzi—numbering between 1,000 and 7,000—marched on the Rwandan capital, Kigali. They were stopped 12 miles south of the city at Kanzenze Bridge along the Nyabarongo River by multiple units of the Garde Nationale Rwandaise (GNR). The GNR routed the rebels with their superior firepower, and in subsequent days repelled further Inyenzi attacks launched from the Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
Anti-clerical campaign of the government of Burundi was a policy of repression and restriction of the rights of the Roman Catholic Church, pursued in Burundi from 1977 to 1987 by the regime of President Jean-Baptiste Bagaza.
