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Suffragan diocese Butare, Rwanda

Diocese of Butare

Butaren(sis)

Latin Church

Latin rite diocese in southern Rwanda, erected in 1961 as the Diocese of Astrida and renamed Butare in 1963. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Kigali and is led by Bishop Jean Bosco Ntagungira, appointed in August 2024.

On the map

Esri
The address the register holds for Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Sabiduría, in Butare, Rwanda.

Every see on one map: browse the dioceses. Churches with recorded hours: find Mass times.

Established
1961
Catholics
691,850
Priests
147
Territory
1,958 km²

Parishes and churches

26 listed churches in our records. Open a parish for Mass times, confession, directions and sources where recorded.

This is our recorded coverage, not an official diocesan parish count. Confirm service times with the parish before travelling.

The bishop

Bishop
Jean Bosco Ntagungira
Born
3 April 1964
Birthplace
Kigali

Explore the ministry of the bishop.

The cathedral

Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Sabiduría stands in Butare, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.

On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.

History

This Rwandan diocese of the Roman Catholic Church began on 11 September 1961, when Pope John XXIII erected it as the Diocese of Astrida; Pope Paul VI gave it its present name, the Diocese of Butare, on 12 November 1963. It stands as a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Kigali. On 2 January 1997 Pope John Paul II appointed Phillipe Rukamba as Bishop of Butare, and on 12 August 2024 Pope Francis named Jean Bosco Ntagungira bishop. Among the diocese's notable priests was Monsignor Eulad Rudahunga, who served from 1953 to 2019 and was made a Monsignor by Pope John Paul II.