Until his biography hit the shelves of prominent bookshops in the country, not much was written about Musenyeri Aloyizi Bigirumwami, a great preacher of Christianity of the past century. 

It was a retired academician, Prof. Bushayija Bugabo Antoni, who grew up hearing about this name and later interacted with him, who decided to document in writing and preserve the legacy of one of Rwanda’s celebrated preachers.

Prof. Bushayija couldn’t imagine the rich legacy of a religious icon, that Bigirumwami was, to simply go to waste; and so he decided to collect material and compile the story of the life of a man whose works touched the lives of many Rwandans of his time.

In the biography, Musenyeri Aloyizi Bigirumwami is said to have been born in 1904 in Gisaka-Zaza, Rusumo.

A brief account is given of how he was named Bigirumwami. It is reported during that time, Gisaka area was not under effective administration of the King of Rwanda (Umwami); and the British administration in neighbouring Tanganyika wanted to annex it under their rule. However, a Rwandan called Rukamba, one of the loyal subjects of the King, resisted the move. That was the time Musenyeri was born and was named Bigirumwami (meaning this area is under the King, Umwami.)

The young Bigirumwami joined a seminary at the age of 10, marking the start of his journey to priesthood. For more than 10 years he was at the seminary and away from home; he basically lost touch with his culture. This, later, shaped his Christian ministry.

After being ordained a priest, Bigirumwami embarked on his calling – preaching the word of God, but during his trips on church work, he noticed that he wasn’t as culturally rooted as other people. The many years he spent in the seminary had kept him away from his society and created disconnect between him and his culture.

But he was not going to give up. So, he asked his students to write for him all that they knew about the way of life of Rwandans. From these notes, the then young priest wrote five books with his compilations focusing on Kinyarwanda language, Rwandan proverbs, riddles, folk tales, philosophy, traditional ceremonies etc.

In that way, he was able to lead in recognizing the value and preserving a culture he had lost touch with. By so doing, Bigirumwami had quickly noticed the dangers faced by people, like him, who pursued western education at the expense of their own culture.

As a priest, he taught and emphasized to his congregation that it was possible to practice Christianity with Rwandan cultural values and traditions. Excerpts of his teachings are included in the book.

In the biography, a reader will know fine details of some of the changes that were taking place in the Catholic Church at that time and how they influenced events in the country during the years that followed.

Over the years, and as he grew in his ministry, Rwanda was undergoing political changes that created a lot of obstacles and challenges for Bigirumwami to overcome during his work. Particularly, he encountered adversity from political leaders, especially during Kayibanda’s regime but did not lay down his tools and kept spreading Christianity.

The reader will also benefit from a vivid description of ceremonies as they were held those days. For example, during his consecration as a bishop in 1952, there were three days of celebrations. Pictures and some speeches relating to the consecration are published. He was the first African bishop in Belgium-Africa, so it was a historic moment.

The biography highlights some of the social infrastructures that Bigirumwami helped build, some of them formed the foundation for institutions that continue to serve Rwandans to date.

They include establishment of the first girls’ schools. Back then, there were only two girls’ secondary schools in Rwanda; Ecole Ménagère de Nyanza and Ecole Normale de Save that taught only home management and primary school teaching respectively.

In his area of jurisdiction as a priest, at least eight girls’ schools were built that taught all that was being taught in schools that admitted boys; all are still operational today. He is also credited with the introduction of hospitals and roads in Nyanza.

About the author

The book is in four parts: Part one is about the early life of Bishop Bigirumwami; the second covers the people who knew him until the time of his death on June 3, 1986. The third part is about the challenges he faced in his ministry while the fourth part is an annex of the speech that King Mutara III Rudahigwa gave at the occasion of his consecration as a bishop.

Prof. Bushayija Bugabo Antoni was born in 1942, in Mayaga, now Nyanza District. He studied at Byimana Mission School before proceeding to St. Leo’s, Kabgayi for secondary education. He joined St Cure d’Ars in Kansi where he was taught and largely influenced by the famous Rwandan historian and philosopher, Alexis Kagame.

He attended university at National University of Rwanda and University of Lubumbashi in Zaïre, present day DR Congo, graduating with a degree in humanities (Literature and History).

While doing his doctoral thesis on the Belgian colonial history at the University Paris I Sorbonne, he came across a lot of material in African Archives in Brussels, the archives in the Tervuren Museum, Belgium and the archives of the White Fathers Missionaries in Rome. He made a collection.

Earlier, he had had the opportunity to attend Bishop Bugirumwami’s consecration, and interacted with him during a retreat at Kigufi near Lake Kivu. He describes him as a man with lots of dignity.

"He was an old man with a lot of achievements and respect; yet he was easy to relate with. You would wish to keep talking with him without end.”

One time he met Bishop Bigirumwami’s niece called Immaculate Rukamba who had a lot of notes about the bishop which the Professor used to boost his archives.

During his retirement in 2011, while reading a book, Prof. Bushayija came across the following statement: "There’s nothing as valuable as remembering those who were heroes to us.” That’s when he picked up the collections and started compiling them into a book. When he told the people who knew the bishop about the project, he received overwhelming support. They were eager to see the book. That’s how the book: Biography, Musenyeri Aloyizi Bigirumwami, came to be.

The book is written and published in Kinyarwanda. "There’s [a misconception] that Rwandans don’t read; but the truth is that most cannot read French or English. Those who can read [the foreign languages] are about two million only while 10 million people can read Kinyarwanda. I want more people to read the book,’’ says the author explaining the decision to publish in Kinyarwanda.

The Book was published by Izuba Editions Toulouse, in May last year and is available at Ikirezi Bookshop in Kacyiru and Caritas Bookshops. It costs Rwf10,000.