Our Lady of Kibeho

The Story

Our Lady of Kibeho refers to a series of Marian apparitions reported at Kibeho, a village in the Nyaruguru District of southern Rwanda, between 1981 and 1989. The apparitions began at Kibeho College, a secondary school for girls, and they remain the only Marian apparitions in Africa to have received formal Church approval. According to the accepted account, the first apparition occurred on November 28, 1981, when a student named Alphonsine Mumureke reported seeing a woman of extraordinary beauty who identified herself as "Nyina wa Jambo" — the Mother of the Word. In the following months, two more students, Nathalie Mukamazimpaka and Marie Claire Mukangango, reported similar encounters. The Church's judgment concerns the apparitions to these three seers. The messages of Kibeho called for prayer, fasting, sincere repentance, and conversion of heart. Through Marie Claire, the apparitions revived the traditional Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary, a devotion that has since spread widely. On August 15, 1982, the seers reported terrifying visions of violence, including rivers of blood and people killing one another. Many have since seen these visions as a foreshadowing of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, in which Marie Claire herself was among those killed. After a lengthy investigation conducted with the involvement of the Holy See, Bishop Augustin Misago of Gikongoro declared on June 29, 2001, that the apparitions to the three original seers were worthy of belief. The Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows was established at Kibeho, and the site has become a center of prayer, reconciliation, and healing for Rwanda and for the wider Church in Africa. Today Kibeho draws growing numbers of pilgrims from across Africa and beyond, especially around the anniversary of the first apparition on November 28. Its message of repentance, the Rosary, and Mary's sorrowful compassion continues to speak to a nation and a continent seeking peace.

Church Recognition

The Bishop of Gikongoro declared the apparitions to three seers authentic in 2001, with Holy See involvement; the only Vatican-recognized apparitions in Africa.

Catholic Teaching

A call to conversion, the Rosary, and the Seven Sorrows of Mary.

Plan Your Visit

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Practical

1 Additional Information ▾

The Shrine of Our Lady of Kibeho is a growing African pilgrimage site.

Go Deeper

Learn more at the official sanctuary website, kibeho-sanctuary.com. Immaculée Ilibagiza's book "Our Lady of Kibeho" offers a popular account, and Bishop Augustin Misago's 2001 declaration sets out the Church's judgment on the apparitions.