Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
1 December 2006
Kibeho — A special Mass was celebrated on Wednesday at the start of a jubilee year to mark the 25th anniversary of the first apparition of the Blessed Virgin at Kibeho.
The Catholic bishops of Rwanda and Burundi led the celebrations attended by thousands of priests, men and women religious and lay people from Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Uganda and Europe.
During the Mass the apostolic nuncio Archbishop Anselmo Guido Pecorari read a letter from Pope Benedict XVI announcing that a plenary indulgence had been granted by the Apostolic Penitentiary to pilgrims who visit Kibeho during the Jubilee Year.
"Our Lady of Kibeho is a beacon of hope, a light for all Africa and the world. This was demonstrated by the fact that 10,000 people braved torrential rain to take part in the ceremony to open the Kibeho Jubilee Year," Bishop Augustin Misago of Gikongoro, told FIDES.
"I was deeply moved at the devotion of the people taking part in the procession and the Mass which followed," Bishop Misago said.
The apparitions at Kibeho were officially recognized by the Church through the local bishop on June 29, 2001, following 20 years of investigation by two commissions, one theological and the other, medical.
Only the apparitions to three people were recognised: Alphonsine Mumureke, Nathalie Mukamazimpaka and Marie Claire Mukangango. Our Lady presented herself to them as Nyina wa Jambo, or Mother of the Word.
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