Balthazar Ntivuguruzwa (born September 15, 1967) is a Rwandan prelate, educator and bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. Since June 2023, he has served as the Bishop of

Diocese of Kabgayi The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kabgayi ( la, Kabgayen(sis)) is a diocese located in the city of Kabgayi in the Ecclesiastical province of Kigali in Rwanda. History * April 25, 1922: The Apostolic Vicariate of Ruanda was established from the nor ...

. Previously, he served as the Vice Chancellor of Institut Catholique de Kabgayi and the dean of studies at

Nyakibanda Major Seminary The Saint Charles Borromeo Major Seminary of Nyakibanda is a Roman Catholic seminary near to Butare, in the Gishamvu sector of the Huye District in Southern Province of Rwanda, below the mountain chain called "Ibisi bya Nyakibanda". It is about f ...

Early life and education

Ntivuguruzwa was born on September 15, 1967, in Kabgayi, Rwanda. He studied at the Saint Leon Minor Seminary of Kabgayi from 1982 to 1988. After the Minor Seminary, he studied philosophy at the seminary in Kabgayi and then studied theology at the Université Catholique du Congo in Kinshassa,

DRC The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. On January 18, 1997, he was ordained Priest of the Diocese of Kabgayi. From 2003, Ntivuguruzwa studied at the Catholic University of Louvain and received his PhD in 2009. His Thesis, "Magisterium and moral life of the faithful: A rereading of the

Catechism of the Catholic Church The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' ( la, Catechismus Catholicae Ecclesiae; commonly called the ''Catechism'' or the ''CCC'') is a catechism promulgated for the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II in 1992. It aims to summarize, in book for ...

" was supervised by Henri Wattiaux.

Career

Ntivuguruzwa was appointed vice rector and teacher at the Saint Leon Minor Seminary of Kabgayi until 2000. Between 2000 and 2003, he was a Secretary of Bishop Anasthase Mutabazi. During his time doing PhD in Louvain, he worked in pastoral care in the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. After completing his doctorate studies, Ntivuguruzwa returned to Rwanda. From 2010 to 2017, he worked at

where he was a professor and dean of studies. Since 2017 up to his consecration, he was the Vice Chancellor of Catholic Institute in Kabgayi, an institute of higher learning of the Kabgayi Diocese.

Bishop of Kabgayi Diocese

On May 2, 2023,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

elected Ntivuguruzwa to replace Bishop Smaradge Mbonyintege as the Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Kabgayi. Ntivuguruzwa was consecrated on 17 June 2023 by a congregation led by

Antoine Kambanda Antoine Kambanda (born 10 November 1958) is a Rwandan prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Archbishop of Kigali since January 2019. He had been Bishop of Kibungo from 2013 to 2018. Pope Francis raised him to the rank of cardinal on 28 ...

. Ntivuguruzwa is the seventh Bishop of Kabgayi Diocese. His Motto is "Orate in Veritate" (English: Pray in Truth).

References

{{Reflist 1967 births Roman Catholic bishops of Kabgayi Living people