Cardinal Antoine Kambanda has paid glowing tribute to Fr Ubald Rugirangoga, who passed away in the wee hours of Friday morning at a hospital in Utah, United States.

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 reference 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.”

Rugirangoga, who was fondly known as Father Ubald, was serving as the Director of Centre of Secret of Peace in Nkanka Parish in Cyangugu Diocese, but he was known more as a charismatic preacher who often held healing and reconciliation sessions across Rwanda and beyond.

Rugirangoga, who succumbed to complications from Covid-19 at University of Utah Hospital, lost his mother and many relatives during the Genocide. His father had long been killed in a pogrom in 1963 when Rugirangoga was just seven. He later said that his decision to become a priest was influenced by his family’s experience as victims of ethnic hatred and so he wanted to preach love.  

Rugirangoga regularly travelled around the country, preaching about the power of remorse, forgiveness and reconciliation to Genocide perpetrators and survivors, among other Rwandans.

"We thank God that his life was spared through the years of turbulent history…but it’s God who gives and it’s God who takes away,” said cardinal Kambanda.

Cardinal Antoine Kambanda. / Photo: Kigali Today

The leader of the Rwandan Catholic Church added: "We pray for his soul to rest in peace and that his legacy of building unity and brotherhood continues to be with us.”

Msgr Kambanda noted that, while Fr Rugirangoga was committed to his charismatic calling, his ministry and deeds greatly benefited the Church.”

"Charisma and hierarchy (in the Church) complement one another,” he noted, adding that spiritual wellness was key to a healthy body.

In a video clip that circulated on social media platforms recently, a frail, bed-ridden Fr Rugirangoga had beseeched for prayers and urged people to take extra precautions against Covid-19.

Rugirangoga’s family announced his death earlier Friday in a joint statement with Bishop Celestin Hakizimana, the Bishop of Gikongoro Diocese and Apostolic Administrator of Cyangugu Diocese.

Cardinal Kambanda said he was in touch with the bereaved family and Bishop Hakizimana regarding funeral arrangements.