Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady
The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady (Engl. Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady , French. Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame ) Located in the center of Rwanda and is the episcopal see of the diocese of Kabgayi . It is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception and has the title of a minor basilica .
History and description
In 1905, the White Fathers established the first mission in Rwanda in Kabgayi south of Guitarama , at that time part of the German colony of German East Africa . In the Rwanda-Urundi protected area in Belgium after the First World War , today's church was built in the early 1920s in the form of a basilica made of red brick , making it the oldest cathedral in Uganda. After the Apostolic Vicariate of Rwanda was established on April 25, 1922, the church was consecrated in April 1923 by Bishop Léon-Paul Classe , who is also buried here. The ceremony was performed by the colonial authorities and King Yuhi V. Musinga together with a large number of residents with the participation of the schools and the mission. The Kabgayi community numbered thirty thousand Catholics. With the establishment of the Archdiocese of Kabgayi, the church became a cathedral in 1959. The 2008 Lake Kivu earthquake caused the roof to collapse.
The sides of the apse were painted with frescoes depicting the life of Jesus, in which the painter Yvette Alde was involved. Behind the altar is a large mosaic with Christ in glory in a mandorla . The aisles of the cathedral are decorated with mosaics depicting the stations of the cross.
Pope John Paul II visited the cathedral on September 8, 1990 and elevated it to the rank of minor basilica on October 22, 1992 .
Next to the cathedral is a memorial for the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. Tens of thousands of residents from the surrounding area fled to the cathedral grounds, many died there of exhaustion and starvation, 64,000 are said to have been murdered here, and at least 6,000 were buried in mass graves here. Kabgayi is the center of a reconciliation program for young people, operated by the American Catholic relief organization CRS.
In addition to educational institutions and a hospital, a regional museum is attached to the cathedral, which gives an overview of Rwandan culture and traditional everyday objects from clothing to baskets and musical instruments to weapons.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Basilica of Kabgayi. February 18, 2015, accessed January 11, 2017 .
- ^ A b c Philipp Briggs, Janice Booth: Rwanda
- ↑ Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady on gcatholic.org
- ^ Heiko Hooge: Rwanda, Uganda , 2011
Coordinates: 2 ° 6 ′ 2.3 ″ S , 29 ° 45 ′ 7.2 ″ E