AFRICA/RWANDA - Brief Historical Overview of Rwanda

Kigali (Agenzia Fides) – Rwanda, a landlocked country located in central Africa, has a surface area of 26, 338 km sq and 9.7 million inhabitants. It borders the countries of Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The official languages are Kinyarwanda, French, and English. There is also Kiswahili spoken, as it is it is the lingua franca of commerce.
In the 19th century, the country was ruled by a monarchy and then became a German colony in 1898. After World War I, Belgium assumed the mandate to rule Rwanda, along with the then Urundi (now Burundi). In 1962, the country became independent. Gregoire Kayibanda, the first President of the country, was overthrown in 1973 by General Juvénal Habyarimana. In 1990, Tutsi exiles in Uganda, grouped in the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) launched an attack along the common border. This would be the start of a civil war. In early 1994, a peace agreement was reached which provided for power sharing between the parties. On April 6, 1994, Habyarimana, together with Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira, was killed when the Rwandan presidential plane was hit by several missiles while preparing to land in Kigali.
The attack, whose responsibility is still debated, marks the start of the genocide perpetrated by the extremist wing of Habyarimana's regime. The UN has created an International Criminal Court, based in Arusha (Tanzania), to judge the perpetrators of genocide.
After the RPF took power, the distinction of the population according to ethnicity (Hutu, Tutsi and Twa) was officially abolished. In 2000, Paul Kagame was elected President to replace Pasteur Bizimungu (Hutu). In 2003, Kagame was re-elected with a popular ballot in which he obtained 95% of the votes.

Data on the Catholic Church.
There are 4,508,000 Catholics spread over nine dioceses, with 155 parishes. There are 10 bishops, 462 diocesan priests, 143 religious priests, 203 professed brothers, 1,523 religious, 4,617 catechists. The Catholic Church runs 467 kindergartens with 52,854 pupils; 1,171 primary schools with 953,980 pupils, 286 middle and high schools with 102,298 students. The Catholic Church operates 13 hospitals and 98 clinics.
There is an important Marian shrine in Kibeho, which arose after Our Lady appeared to some young local girls in 1981. The appearances of Kibeho were officially recognized by the Catholic Church June 29, 2001, after 20 years of study by two committees, one medical and one theological, established by the local bishop. Only the apparitions of three visionaries: Alphonsine Mumureke, Nathalie Mukamazimpaka Mukangango, and Marie Claire were declared valid. Our Lady appeared under the name "Nyina wa Jambo", which in the local language means "Mother of the Word." (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 08/09/2010)