NYAGATARE - Grief and sorrow engulfed Nyagatare town on Sunday as Monsignor Leonard Rubumbira was laid to rest in a ceremony that brought together thousands of mourners to bid farewell to the much loved priest. Rubumbira, who is much remembered by Rwandans who were in refugee camps for over thirty years in Uganda, succumbed to lung cancer last Monday at King Faysal Hospital in Kigali.

Mourners, most of whom had been mentored by Rubumbira during his 60 years of priesthood, said he was a man who lived an exemplary life throughout his 89 years of existence.

"The only word with which I can use to describe this man is that he was a patriot on top of his priestly duties. He contributed enormously to the liberation struggle that brought many Rwandans to their homeland,” said Senator Joseph Karemera.

Karemera, who delivered a message from the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) during the ceremony, said that the main legacy left by Rubumbira is his role in the education of many Rwandans who were in camps of Nyakivara and Nshungerezi.

Many of these children were later to champion the 1990-94 liberation struggle that led to the eventual repatriation of the former refugees after more than three decades in exile.

"He always told our parents that if they did not take us to school, they would not be different from those who had forced them into exile, and that’s how many of us ended up in schools,” Karemera said.

The late priest is mostly remembered for his refusal to stay in monasteries with other catholic priests, opting to stay in the refugee camps where many people needed him most.

"We shall always remember him for the role he played in advocating for the social welfare of the people who were staying in those camps, especially by acting as our link to the Ugandan government,” Karemera added.

He called on mourners not to cry for the fallen priest "because he has left a legacy many would not dream of leaving on this world.”

Other speakers included an emissary from the diocese of Mbarara to which Rubumbira was attached for all the 33 years in exile, who spoke of the fallen priest’s faithfulness and love for his flock.

Connie Bwiza, a Member of Parliament, said that Rubumbira was one priest who manifested what he preached into the social spheres where he lived.

"Several generations passed through his hands and they benefited from him in different ways,” she pointed out
At the time of his death, Rubumbira was the parish priest of Nyagatare Parish, a parish that he founded over 12 years ago.

Ends