Butare, 12 August, 2024 / 8:03 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Francis has accepted the retirement of Bishop Philippe Rukamba from the pastoral care of the Butare Diocese in Rwanda and appointed Mons. Jean Bosco Ntagungira, as his successor.
The appointment of Mons. Ntagungira who has been serving as the Parish Priest of Regina Pacis Catholic Church in Kigali was announced by the Holy See on Monday, August 9, and published by the press office on the same day.
Butare Diocese has been under the pastoral care of 76-year-old Bishop Rukamba since his Episcopal Ordination in April 1997; he succeeded the late Bishop Jean-Baptiste Gahamanyi who served as the pioneer Bishop of the Diocese of the East African nation since its erection in 1961 to 1997.
Born in April 1964 in the Archdiocese of Kigali, Bishop-elect Ntagungira was ordained a Priest for the same Metropolitan See in August 1993 after completing his Philosophical and theological studies at the Major Seminary of Nyakibanda.
As a Priest, the Bishop-elect has served in various capacities, including Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Kigali; President of the Diocesan Commission for Missions and Ecumenism, and Prefect of Studies at the Minor Seminary of Ndera.
