Catholics and the Rwandan community in general are grieving the passing of Father Ubald Rugirangoga, 65, who breathed his last on the morning of Friday, January 8.
Rugirangoga went to the United States in March 2020 where he was invited to lead a mass and pray for the sick, but could not come back in April as planned because of Covid-19 preventive measures that were in place restricting air travel among others.
According to Celestin Hakizimana, Bishop of Gikongoro Diocese and Apostolic Administrator of Cyangugu Diocese where Rugirangoga was serving, the deceased succumbed to respiratory complications.
The cause of his death came as a side effect of Covid-19 that the priest had battled for months and later healed from it. He died from Utah, United States where he was being treated.
Born on April 26, 1955 in Karengera Sector, Nyamasheke district, Rugirangoga was a genocide survivor whose father was killed in 1962 and his mother in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
After the death of his father when he was at the age of 7, Rugirangoga fled to Burundi after him and other fellow students were about to be killed over their ethnicity.
While in the neighboring Burundi, he continued to pursue his secondary school education.
After returning to his mother-land, Rugirangoga enrolled for philosophy and theology education at Saint-Charles Borromée de Nyakibanda, in the now Huye district.
He took these lessons between 1978 and 1984, and in the latter year he was ordained priest and assigned to serve at Nyamasheke Parish.
During the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Rugirangoga’s mother was killed and according to his televised testimony, Rugirangoga’s fellow parishioner wanted to kill him, which forced him to escape to Democratic Republic of Congo and later to France.
"Genocide against the Tutsi was a big cross for me to carry. I was healed by forgiveness, and I had to help others to do the same. Extreme horror requires extreme forgiveness,” he said in his testimony.
After healing from genocide wounds, Rugirangoga came back to Rwanda and continued his priesthood at Cyangugu Cathedral Parish and Mushaka Parish.
Before his death, he was the Director of Centre of Secret of Peace in Nkanka Parish, Rusizi District.
At this place, Rugirangoga would run seminars urging Genocide perpetrators to seek forgiveness and survivors to forgive their tormentors as part of the healing process from the wounds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
The 65 year-old was in 2015 rewarded as a protector of friendship pact ‘Umurinzi w’Igihango’ by UNITY CLUB-INTWARARUMURI led and founded by the First Lady Jeannette Kagame.
The organization works in partnership with National Unity and Reconciliation Commission(NURC) for the program of Abarinzi b'Igihango.
"His death is a tragedy to the Rwandan community. He has played a critical role in striving for unity and reconciliation among perpetrators and survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi through healing, repentance, forgiveness and truth-telling,” Fidèle Ndayisaba, the Executive Secretary of the Fidel Ndayisaba told this Paper on Friday.
"His legacy shall remain and will be a stepping stone for current and future generations,” he added.
Tributes pour in for the deceased
Meanwhile, Cardinal Antoinne Kambanda who is also the Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Rwanda has paid tribute to Rugirangoga.
Praising Rugirangoga’s ministry of healing and prayer, Mgr Kambanda described the 65-year-old’s passing as "sad news and a great loss for the Church and the country”.
"God gave him to us at the right time,” he said in a tweet while referring to Rugirangoga’s role in promoting reconciliation and healing among Rwandans following the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, which claimed at least a million lives.
"Through his ministry of prayer and healing you could see the combination of healing of the spirit and social fabric,” said the cardinal. "He gave us his full life.”
Hakizimana also told this Paper that the deceased was "a committed servant of God and was always frank in everything regardless of the negative effects that would follow. He loved people so much and had unwavering integrity in his service.”