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Catholic Church by country |
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The Catholic Church in Rwanda is part of the worldwide Catholic Church.
There are just over five million Catholics in Rwanda - about half of the total population. The country is divided into nine dioceses including one archdiocese. The Rwandan government reported in 2012 that 43% of the Rwanda's population is Catholic. [1]
In 2020, there were 939 priest and 2219 nuns serving across 205 parishes. [2]
On 2022 worldpopulationreview.com reported that 56.9% of Rwanda population are Catholic.
![]() | This section needs to be updated.(February 2020) |
On November 20, 2016, the Catholic Church in Rwanda released a statement apologizing [3] for the role of its members in the genocide in 1994. "We apologize for all the wrongs the church committed. We apologize on behalf of all Christians for all forms of wrongs we committed. We regret that church members violated (their) oath of allegiance to God's commandments. Forgive us for the crime of hate in the country to the extent of also hating our colleagues because of their ethnicity. We didn't show that we are one family but instead killed each other," said a statement signed by the nine bishops constituting the Catholic Episcopal Conference of Rwanda.
The Roman Catholic Church in Rwanda is composed of 1 ecclesiastical territory with 7 suffragan dioceses.
This is a bibliography for primary sources, books and articles on the personal and general accounts, and the accountabilities, of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
Former names: Apostolic Vicariate of Alabama and the Floridas (1825-1829), Diocese of Mobile, Diocese of Mobile-Birmingham (1954-1969).
The Archdiocese of Manila is the archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Metro Manila, Philippines, encompassing the cities of Manila, Makati, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Pasay, and Taguig. Its cathedral is the Minor Basilica and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, also known as the Manila Cathedral, located in Intramuros, which comprises the old city of Manila. The Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title Immaculate Conception, is the principal patroness of the archdiocese.
The Diocese of Wheeling–Charleston is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory – or diocese – of the Catholic Church comprising West Virginia in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Baltimore.
The Diocese of Wilmington is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory – or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the eastern United States. The diocese comprises the entire state of Delaware and the Eastern Shore Region of Maryland.
The Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in central Indiana in the United States. The current bishop is Timothy L. Doherty. The Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
The Archdiocese of Miami is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in South Florida in the United States. It is the metropolitan see for the Ecclesiastical Province of Miami, which covers all of Florida.
The Catholic Church in Burundi is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
Christianity in Lebanon has a long and continuous history. Biblical scriptures show that Peter and Paul evangelized the Phoenicians, leading to the dawn of the ancient Patriarchate of Antioch. As such, Christianity in Lebanon is almost as old as Christian faith itself. Christianity spread slowly in Lebanon due to pagans who resisted conversion, but it ultimately spread throughout the country. Even after centuries of Muslim rule, Christianity remains the dominant faith of the Mount Lebanon region and has substantial communities elsewhere.
Immaculée Ilibagiza is a Rwandan-American Catholic author and motivational speaker. Her first book, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust (2006), is an autobiographical work detailing how she survived during the Rwandan genocide.
Islam is the largest minority religion in Rwanda, practiced by 2% of the total population according to the 2012 census. Virtually all Muslims in Rwanda are Sunni Muslim. Islam was first introduced into Rwanda by Muslim traders from the East Coast of Africa in the 20th century. Since its introduction, Muslims have been a minority in the territory, while Christianity, was introduced to Rwandans during the colonial period in the beginning of the 20th century, and is now the largest religion in the country.
The Archdiocese of Sydney is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church. Its episcopal see is Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Vital-Justin Grandin was a Roman Catholic priest and bishop labelled as a key architect of the Canadian Indian residential school system by contemporary mainstream and Catholic news sources, which has been considered an instrument of cultural genocide. In June 2021, this led to governments and private businesses to begin removing his name from institutions and infrastructure previously named for him. He served the Church in the western parts of what is now Canada both before and after Confederation. He is also the namesake or co-founder of various small communities and neighbourhoods in what is now Alberta, Canada, especially those of francophone residents.
Shelton Joseph Fabre is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as the Archbishop of Louisville in Kentucky since March 30, 2022. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in Louisiana from 2013 to 2022 and was auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans in Louisiana from 2007 to 2013.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kigali is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Rwanda. It was erected from the Archdiocese of Kabgayi by Pope Paul VI on April 10, 1976, with the suffragan sees of Butare, Byumba, Cyangugu, Gikongoro, Kabgayi, Kibungo, Nyundo, Ruhengeri. It is the only archdiocese within Rwanda.
Our Lady of Kibeho, also known as Our Lady of Sorrows of Kibeho, is a Catholic title of the Mary, mother of Jesus, based on the Marian apparitions reported in the 1980s by several adolescents in Kibeho, south-western Rwanda. The young visionaries were Alphonsine Mumureke, Nathalie Mukamazimpaka and Marie Claire Mukangango.
Daniel Edward Thomas is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has served as bishop of the Diocese of Toledo in Ohio since 2014. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania from 2006 to 2014.
Christianity is the largest religion in Rwanda. The most recent national census from 2012 indicates that: 43.7% of Rwanda's population is Catholic, 37.7% is Protestant, 11.8% is Seventh-day Adventist, 2.0% is Muslim, 2.5% claims no religious affiliation, and 0.7% is Jehovah's Witness.
The Catholic Church in South Sudan is composed of one ecclesiastical province with one archdiocese and six suffragan dioceses. There have been a total of 31 bishops in South Sudan to date. The bishops of South Sudan and Sudan are currently members of one single bishops' conference, designated as Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Kabgayi is 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.