The Roman Catholic Diocese of Butare is an ecclesiastical territory or

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

of the Roman

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

. It was erected on 11 September 1961 as the Diocese of Astrida by

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

, and was later renamed as the Diocese of Butare on 12 November 1963 by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

. The diocese is a

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...

of the

Archdiocese of Kigali The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kigali ( la, Archidioecesis Kigaliensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Rwanda. It was erected from the Archdiocese of Kabgayi by Pope Paul VI on April 10, 1976, with the ...

Philippe Rukamba Philippe is a masculine sometimes feminin given name, cognate to Philip. It may refer to: * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present) * Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer * Prince Philippe, Count ...

was appointed

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of Butare by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

on 2 January 1997. A prominent priest of this diocese was Msgr Eulad Rudahunga, serving from 1953 to 2019, and made a Monsignor by Pope John Paul II.

Bishops

List of bishops of Butare

Jean-Baptiste Gahamanyi Jean-Baptiste is a male French name, originating with Saint John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿ ...

(1961–1997) *

(1997–present)

Auxiliary Bishop

Félicien Muvara Félicien or Felicien is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Félicien Du Bois (born 1983), Swiss professional ice hockey defenceman * Félicien Cattier (1869–1946), very prominent Belgian banker, financier and philanthropist *F� ...

(1988), did not take effect

References

External links

Catholic-Hierarchy

GCatholic.org
Butare Christian organizations established in 1961

Butare Butare (), also known as Huye, is a city (population: 50,220 as of 2012) in the Southern Province of Rwanda and the capital of Huye district. It is the fourth largest town in Rwanda by population. History The Belgian colonial rulers establishe ...

Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century 1961 establishments in Ruanda-Urundi {{rwanda-stub