A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the pope and typically hold the title for life. Collectively, they constitute the College of Cardinals. The most solemn responsibility of the cardinals is to elect a new pope in a conclave, almost always from among themselves, when the Holy See is vacant. During the period between a pope's death or resignation and the election of his successor, the day-to-day governance of the Holy See is in the hands of the College of Cardinals. The right to participate in a conclave is limited to cardinals who have not reached the age of 80 years by the day the vacancy occurs. In addition, cardinals collectively participate in papal consistories, in which matters of importance to the Church are considered and new cardinals may be created. Cardinals of working age are also appointed to roles overseeing dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the central administration of the Catholic Church.
The pope, also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome, head of the worldwide Catholic Church, and has also served as the head of state or sovereign of the Papal States and later the Vatican City State since the eighth century. From a Catholic viewpoint, the primacy of the bishop of Rome is largely derived from his role as the apostolic successor to Saint Peter, to whom primacy was conferred by Jesus, who gave Peter the Keys of Heaven and the powers of "binding and loosing", naming him as the "rock" upon which the Church would be built. The current pope is Francis, who was elected on 13 March 2013.
Pope John Paul II was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his death in 2005.
Pope Siricius was the bishop of Rome from December 384 to his death. In response to inquiries from Bishop Himerius of Tarragona, Siricius issued the Directa decretal, containing decrees of baptism, church discipline and other matters. His are the oldest completely preserved papal decretals. He is sometimes said to have been the first bishop of Rome to call himself pope.
The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu militias. Although the Constitution of Rwanda states that more than 1 million people perished in the genocide, the actual number of fatalities is unclear, and some estimates suggest that the real number killed was likely lower. The most widely accepted scholarly estimates are around 500,000 to 800,000 Tutsi deaths.
Roger Marie Élie Etchegaray was a French cardinal of the Catholic Church. Etchegaray served as the Archbishop of Marseille from 1970 to 1985 before entering the Roman Curia, where he served as President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (1984–1998) and President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum (1984–1995). He was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 1979, and was the longest-serving cardinal never to attend a papal conclave.
The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the church, the Body of Christ, so to respect the diversity of gifts and ministries necessary for genuine unity.
The Basilica of San Sisto Vecchio is one of the over sixty minor basilicas among the churches of Rome, and a titular church since 600 AD. As such, it is connected to the title of a Cardinal priest, currently Antoine Kambanda.
Vincent Nsengiyumva was a Rwandan prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Kigali from 1976 until his death.
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.
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.
Giuseppe Bertello is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal since 2012, who was President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and President of the Governorate of Vatican City State from October 2011 to October 2021. He worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See from 1971 to 2011; became an archbishop in 1987; held appointments as Nuncio to several countries, including Rwanda, Mexico, and Italy; and was the Holy See's representative to a number of international organizations.
Antoine Kambanda is a Rwandan prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Archbishop of Kigali since 2019. He was Bishop of Kibungo from 2013 to 2018.
Smaragde Mbonyintege is a Rwandan prelate of the Catholic Church who was Bishop of Kabgayi in Rwanda from 2006 to 2023.
Edward Joseph Adams is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has served in the diplomatic service of the Holy See since 1976. He was the apostolic nuncio to Great Britain from 2017 to 2020 and held earlier postings in Greece, Asia, Africa and Central America.
Giovanni Battista Dellepiane was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, including nineteen years leading the Vatican's mission to the Belgian Congo.
The Apostolic Nunciature to Rwanda the diplomatic mission of the Holy See to Rwanda. It is located in Kigali. The current Apostolic Nuncio is Archbishop Arnaldo S. Catalan, who was named to the position by Pope Francis on 31 January 2022.
Nicola Rotunno was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, including stints as Apostolic Nuncio in Burundi, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, and Syria.
Vito Roberti was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who was Bishop of Caserta from 1965 to 1987. He was given the personal title of archbishop in 1962 and worked from 1962 to 1965 in the diplomatic service of the Holy See as Apostolic Nuncio to several countries in Africa.
Arnaldo Sánchez Catalán is a Filipino prelate of the Catholic Church who has been an apostolic nuncio since 2022, currently Apostolic Nuncio to Rwanda and titular Archbishop of Apollonia.
