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Pope Francis Accepts Retirement of Bishop of Kabgayi in Rwanda, Appoints Successor

Mons. Balthazar Ntivuguruzwa

Pope Francis has accepted the retirement of Bishop Smaragde Mbonyintege from the pastoral care of the Catholic Diocese of Kabgayi in Rwanda and has appointed Mons. Balthazar Ntivuguruzwa as his successor.

The latest administrative changes in the Rwandan Catholic Diocese were made public on Tuesday, May 2 by the Holy See Press Office.

Aged 76 years, Bishop Mbonyintege has been at the helm of the Kabgayi Diocese since his Episcopal ordination in March 2006.

He succeeded Bishop Anastase Mutabazi who had resigned in December 2004 days to his 52nd birthday, after serving the Diocese since May 1996.

The newly appointed Bishop of Kabgayi Diocese who is a member of the Clergy of the same Episcopal See was born in September 1967. 

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He was ordained a Priest in January 1997 after completing his philosophical and theological studies at St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary of Philosophy in Kagbayi Diocese and the Catholic University of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) respectively.

The holder of a doctorate in moral theology from the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium has been serving as Rector of the Catholic Higher Institute of Kabgayi.

Previously, the Bishop-elect served in various other capacities, including Vice Rector and professor at the Minor Seminary of Kabgayi; Secretary to the bishop of Kabgayi; professor and Dean of studies at the major seminary of Nyakibanda.

Outside the East African nation, Mons. Ntivuguruzwa served as the assistant Parish Priest at Saint-Rémy and Sainte-Renelde in the Archdiocese of Mechelen in Belgium’s capital city, Brussels.

Once Consecrated Bishop, Mons. Ntivuguruzwa is to become the 7th Local Ordinary of Kagbayi Diocese, which has a population of 702,255 Catholics representing 64 percent of the total population in the Rwandese Diocese, according to 2021 statistics

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The 2,187 square-kilometer Rwandan Catholic Diocese that was erected in April 1922 is part of the Ecclesiastical Province of Kigali.

Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.