The Catholic faithful in Bumara Parish located in Rwaza Sector, Musanze District this weekend inaugurated a Rwf320 million church, with all funds raised by the local Christians according to officials.

The idea to build the new church was inspired by the fact that the previous one was old as it was built in the early1900s; the church was also too small to accommodate all the worshipers.

"A number of Christians would be forced to worship outside the church as it was too small and dilapidated, we were also afraid that it might collapse as it was too old;  that’s the main reason we came up with an idea to build a decent church,” said Célestin Mbarushimana, one of the local Christians.

The foundation stone for the new church was laid in early March 2017 by Bishop Vincent Harolimana of the Ruhengeri Diocese, since then every Christian would contribute towards construction works.

"Besides contributing money, we also had to work. We had to show up every morning and at evening to assist construction activities, we contributed also through community works (Umuganda),” noted Mbarushimana.

While commissioning the newly-built church, Bishop Harolimana, who was flanked by mayors of Musanze and Gakenke districts, commended the efforts the local Christians invested in building the church on their own.

He called upon Catholics to always remain faithful Christians who obey God’s Commandments and to love one another by promoting Christianity values of peace, unity and reconciliation in their respective communities.

The mayor of Musanze District, Jeannine Nuwumuremyi hailed the Catholic faithful for building the new facility in the area, saying it would strengthen Christianity.

Nuwumuremyi challenged the Christians to always actively participate in all government programmes by particularly striving "to build safer families which the Government considers the foundation of sustainable development.”