Kibeho’s True
and False Seers
On my list of True
Apparitions I have had Kibeho listed as True but False for many years now. I am happy to see that the Vatican’s official
paper has come to my support after all these years because I have been attacked
by many people over the years for my insistence that the bishop did not approve
all the messages but only three of the seers.
Now I am able to post the
Rick Salbato
"Yes,
the Virgin Mary Did Appear in Kibeho"
Official
Declaration Says Vision Foresaw Genocide in
"Yes, the
Virgin Mary did appear in Kibeho on Nov. 28, 1981, and in the course of the
following six months," the bishop said. "There are more reasons to
believe this than to deny it."
With the above
statement, Bishop Misago of Gikongoro
declared credible the affirmations of three Rwandan
young women, who claim to have seen the Virgin.
The statement
appears in the "Declaration on the
Definitive Judgment on the Apparitions of Kibeho," published Friday by
the
Bishop Misago also made a solemn declaration during a
concelebrated Mass with all Rwandan bishops and the apostolic nuncio in
He could not
confirm the veracity of all the people who reported apparitions, however.
The bishop
proclaimed solemnly that Our Lady appeared only to Alphonsine Mumureke, Nathalie Mukamazimpaka and Marie Claire Mukangango.
At the time, the three were 17, 20 and 21 years old, respectively, and,
according to the declaration, "corresponded satisfactorily to all the
criteria established by the Church in the matter of private apparitions and
revelations."
The document
goes on to state that, on "the contrary, the evolution of the alleged
subsequent visionaries, especially after the apparitions were over, reflects
disquieting personal situations, which have reinforced the existing
reservations in regard to them."
Moreover,
the document does not consider the alleged visions of Jesus, reported from
1982.
Instead,
devotion to the Virgin's apparitions in
One of the
events that influenced the declaration was the anticipated vision of the
The young women
said they saw: "A river of blood, people who killed one another, abandoned
bodies with no one to bury them, a tree on fire, an open chasm, a monster and
decapitated heads."
This awful
vision was the only one of its kind. In the rest of the apparitions, Our Lady,
who had dark skin, encouraged the young women to pray, fast, and do penance. In
some cases, they were seen to dance before the Virgin.
In the first
apparition, which took place at 12:35 p.m. on Nov. 28,
1981, in the dining room of the school in Kibeho, directed by a local
congregation, Alphonsine Mumureke
heard a voice calling her: "My daughter."
Mumureke went to the corridor and saw a very beautiful woman: "She had a
seamless white dress and also a white veil on her head. Her hands were clasped
together on her breast, and her fingers pointed to the sky."
Mumureke asked her: "Who are you?" The reply was: "Ndi Nyina Wa Jambo," that is,
"I am the Mother of the Word." She continued: "I have come to
calm you because I have heard your prayers. I would like your friends to have
faith, because they do not believe strongly enough."
In January
1982, Nathalie Mukamazimpaka saw the Virgin; these
apparitions continued through Dec. 3, 1983.
On March 2,
1982, it was Marie Claire Mukangango's turn. The
apparitions lasted six months in her case, until Sept. 15, 1982.
Mumureke's last apparition was on Nov. 28, 1989, exactly seven years after the
first.
Meanwhile, in
1982 the bishop appointed a medical commission, and later a theological one, to
investigate the reports.
With
the passing months, the number of reported visionaries rose to seven. Three
other young women and a boy said they received apparitions of Jesus; none of
these apparitions have been recognized.
From the
beginning in Kibeho, in southern
The ethnic war
in the mid-1990s seems to many to have been the
realization of the prophecy.
Commenting in
the mid-1980s on events in Kibeho, well-known French Mariologist,
Father René Laurentin, said that "they are a
joyful sign for
During his 1990
visit to
ZE01070201
JUDGEMENT ON THE APPARITIONS OF KIBEHO |
Bishop Augustin Misago of |
On Monday 2 July, the Holy See released the declaration of Bishop Augustin Misago of Gikongoro, on the apparitions that took place in 1982-83
in Twenty years have already passed since the beginning of the study of
the dossier on the apparitions of Kibeho. These unusual phenomena began on 28
November 1981, in the The apparitions continued for a considerable length of time. Many
words have been spoken by the alleged visionaries, and many facts, more or
less mysterious, have taken place over the years. However, the phenomenon of
the proliferation of alleged visionaries in the region of Kibeho and in the
rest of the country might have really disoriented public opinion. Two study commissions, one of doctors and one of theologians, were
immediately set up by the local Bishop; they have been at work since April
1982. On 15 August 1988, the local Bishop decided to approve a public
devotion linked to the apparitions of Kibeho. Recognizing the legitimacy of
this devotion, he deliberately put aside two questions whose solution was of
capital importance for the future: —Did the Virgin Mary and Jesus appear in Kibeho as some alleged
visionaries affirm? —If so, what visionary, man or woman, can be believed, in view of the
large number of people who in those days began to talk about visions and
messages from heaven? The advanced state of the study commissions' work now offers sufficient
elements to allow competent ecclesiastical authorities to pronounce
definitively on this question. As a result, Bishop Augustin Misago of Gikongoro, who
represents this authority, has published his declaration concerning the
definitive judgment on the apparitions of All the Catholic bishops of Bishop Misago, who was the main celebrant of
the Mass, personally read, in front of the assembly, the long-awaited
Declaration, but only its most significant passages,
for lack of time. The 23 page text is composed of three parts or chapters. 1. Explanation of the facts The first part (pp. 1-10) consists in a brief exposition of the facts,
in which the Bishop primarily establishes some historical reference points,
then he presents the elements of the message and finally he shows how the
apparitions of Kibeho have born fruit, good fruit, in spite of the difficult
moments that Rwanda and the other countries of the Great Lakes region have
lived in the last 10 years. II. Studies and conclusions The second part (pp. 11-19) is the heart of the matter. It begins by
recalling the initiatives to promote the devotion to Our Lady taken by Bishop
Augustin Misago of Gikongoro. In 1988 his predecessor authorized public
devotion at the site of the apparitions. He was Bishop Jean Baptiste Gahamanyi, of the
Diocese of Butare, from which the Diocese of Kibeho
was cut off. After a comment on the new phases of the work of the
commissions, the Bishop declared that the dossier is ready and so the moment
has come to publish the conclusions, summed up in 16 points. We mention here some statements that govern the rest of the document.
The Bishop declared as follows: The three initial authentic testimonies of the apparitions at Kibeho 1. Yes, the Virgin Mary appeared at Kibeho on 28 November 1981 and in
the months that followed. There are more reasons to believe in the
apparitions than to deny them. Only the three initial testimonies merit being considered authentic;
they were given by Alphonsine Mumureke,
Nathalie Mukamazimpaka, and by Marie Claire Mukangango. The Virgin appeared to
them with the name "Nyina wa
Jambo", that is "Mother of the
Word", which is synonymous to "Umubyeyl W'iamna" that is, "Mother of God", as she
herself explained. 2. Various reasons justify the choice by Our Lady of these three
visionaries already recognized as visionaries. These witnesses, historically
linked, were the only ones on the scene for some months, at least up to June
1982. They are the ones who made Kibeho known as a place of apparitions and
pilgrimage causing crowds of people to flock there. What is more important is that Alphonsine,
Nathalie and Marie Claire corresponded satisfactorily to all the criteria
established by the Church in the matter of private apparitions and
revelations. In contrast, the
evolution of the alleged subsequent visionaries, especially after the
apparitions were over, reflects disquieting personal situations, which have
reinforced the existing reservations in regard to them and discouraged
ecclesiastical authorities from proposing them to the faithful as points of
reference. 3. In the evaluation of the facts and the messages, only the public
apparitions are taken into consideration. Public are those apparitions that
take place in the presence of various testimonies, which does not necessarily
mean a crowd. The most active period of these apparitions ended with the year 1983.
Everything said or done after that date at Kibeho did not bring anything new
with respect to what was already known, from the point of view of the
messages and of the signs of credibility. This is also valid for Alphonsine who continued to attract many people up to the
end of her apparitions. First two years of apparitions at Kibeho 4. The first two years of the apparitions at Kibeho (1982 and 1983)
constitute a decisive period for whoever wishes to know what happened and
form an opinion. In fact it was during these two years that significant
events were produced. These made Kibeho known and caused crowds to flock
there. It was always in that period that the fundamental elements of the
message of Kibeho were communicated and recapitulated and the apparitions of
the major part of the first visionaries ended. 5. In the case of the three visionaries named above, who are at the
origin of the fame of Kibeho, nothing that they said or did during the
apparitions is contrary to Christian faith and morals. Their message is in
conformity with the Sacred Scripture and the living Tradition of the Church. The alleged apparitions of Jesus reported at
Kibeho beginning in July 1982 are not taken into consideration in this
Declaration for various reasons, primarily because the alleged visionaries of
Jesus known to the pilgrims of Kibeho, developed disquieting personal
situations. Regarding instead the first visionaries
of the Virgin Mary, "no decisive objection has been formulated against
the apparitions; the arguments in favour of their
supernatural character appear to be very serious and the passing of the years
has only made them more incisive". Usefulness of apparitions for applying Gospel to current events "The recognition or negation of the authenticity of an apparition
does not guarantee infallibility; it is based on proofs of probability more
than on apodictic arguments". In the sphere of the apparitions there is
then no absolute certainty for the witnesses, except perhaps for the
visionary. The definitive judgement about the
Apparitions of Kibeho should be interpreted in this spirit. The recognition
of these apparitions should not be considered a requirement of faith. Therefore
each Christian is free to believe or not. "A recognized apparition, that strengthens the life of faith and
prayer, is certainly a powerful help for Shepherds of souls, but the message
linked to this apparition is not a new revelation; it is rather a way of
recalling the ordinary teaching of the Church, which has been
forgotten". III. Pastoral directives: Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows and public
devotion The third part of the Declaration (pp. 20-23) contains a group of
pastoral directives that indicate to the faithful the line of conduct to
follow in this context, in particular for all that regards the exercise of
public Marian devotion linked to the apparitions of Kibeho already officially
recognized. These practical instructions repeat in part what Bishop Jean Baptiste Gahamanyi had
formulated in his three known Pastoral Letters on the events of Kibeho. The
Bishop of Gikongoro completes them adding others,
judged opportune in the present circumstances. The name given to the Marian sanctuary at Kibeho is "Shrine of
Our Lady of Sorrows", as the Bishop had anticipated when the first stone
was laid, 28 November 1992, and repeated in his message of 15 September 1996,
with fuller explanations. "That Kibeho become a place of pilgrimage and of encounter for
all who seek Christ and who come there to pray, a fundamental centre of
conversion, of reparation for the sins of the world and of reconciliation, a
point of meeting for 'all who were dispersed', as for those who aspire to the
values of compassion and fraternity without borders, a fundamental centre
that recalls the Gospel of the Cross" (from the Declaration). The Declaration, formulating a definitive judgement
on the apparitions of Kibeho, permits the clarification of a situation which
was ambiguous for many faithful for a long time, and for public opinion, not
only at Kibeho but in the whole country. "in
the great number of celebrations for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 of
the Redemption and of the Centenary of evangelization in The complete text printed in Kinyarwanda and in French is available at
the diocesan offices of Gikongoro. Gikongoro,
29 June 2001 Rev. Ignace Mboneyabo |
Taken from: L'Osservatore
Romano is the newspaper of the Holy See. The Cathedral Foundation |