Saint_Léon_Minor_Seminary_of_Kabgayi

Saint Léon Minor Seminary of Kabgayi

Saint Léon Minor Seminary of Kabgayi

School in Rwanda, Southern Province

St Léon Minor Seminary of Kabgayi is a Catholic church minor seminary located in Kabgayi, Southern province of Rwanda. The school is owned by Kabgayi Diocese of Catholic Church of Rwanda. Established in 1913,[1] the seminary is the oldest formal school in Rwanda.[2] The minor seminary of Kabgayi has educated a number of notable people both in the church and politics. The seminary's alumni[3] include two former Presidents of Republic of Rwanda, several catholic church bishops, two former Presidents of Rwanda's senate, tens of ministers, several members of the parliament and hundreds of Catholic priests.[2]

Quick Facts St Léon Minor Seminary of Kabgayi Petit Séminaire Saint Léon Kabgayi, Location ...

Foundation

After the creation of Apostolic Vicariate of Kivu in 1912,[4] its first Vicar Bishop John Joseph Hirth founded Saint Léon Minor Seminary in Nyaruhengeri near Save. The seminary opened in January 1913 with 16 students from Rwaza, Nyundo, Kabgayi and Save. On 4 October 1913, the new established seminary of Nyaruhengeri was transferred to Kabgayi where it has been operating up today.

The first 16 students of the Minor Seminary of Nyaruhengeri then of Kabgayi[4] are Albert Kanyamudale, Aloys Balitubya, Ignace Ndenzaho, Ferdinand Kabunda, Mercure Bazilake, Boniface Mufuri, Laurent Kirobafi, Ananias Kanyamugenge, Simon Bapfakurera, Laurent Sehene, Albert Ndagijimana, Joseph Binego, Aster Senzige, Velan Majanja and Abraham Aholihisa. On 9 October 1913, new students arrived at Kabgayi to start the first year of seminary.

As of 2012, St Léon Minor Seminary of Kabgayi educated 5078 students.

Notable alumni

As the oldest formal education institution, the influence of St Léon Minor Seminary of Kabgayi is visible in political space and Catholic church of Rwanda. Among the notable alumni include:[3]

References

  1. [1]
    Hitimana, Mathias (2013-09-30). "Kabgayi, imfura mu maseminari irizihiza yubile y'imyaka 100 muri iki cyumweru". IGIHE (in Kinyarwanda). Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  2. [2]
    "Kabgayi Seminary: celebrating a century of discipline, excellence". The New Times | Rwanda. 2013-10-07. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
  3. [3]
    REGISTRE DES SEMINARISTES ( 1912 - 1990 ). Petit Seminaire Saint Leon Kabgayi. 2010.
  4. [4]
    Cercle Saint-Paul de NYAKIBANDA (2011). Jubilé de 75 ans d'existence dans la vallée de Nyakibanda.


Stub icon 1 Stub icon 2

This Rwanda school-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Stub icon

This article about a Catholic school is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Saint_Léon_Minor_Seminary_of_Kabgayi, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.