Our Lady of Kibeho - The Modern-Day Marian Apparition in Rwanda, Africa

By Deacon Clarence Johnson

Rwanda is often remembered for the tragic genocide of 1994.  However, not long before this horror, Our Lady appeared to young visionaries at a tiny all-girls school run by nuns in the village of Kibeho.  She warned of impending disaster for the country and delivered important messages for the world. Mary’s apparitions at Kibeho demonstrate a motherly love so great and authentic that it reaches out to us from heaven — willingly acceding to the pain and sorrow of indifference and often unrequited love.

During his first “ad limina” visit to the Vatican, Bishop Augustin Misago of Rwanda was asked by Pope John Paul II, “Ah, in your country you have Kibeho. What news from Kibeho?” June 29, 2025 will mark the 24th anniversary of Bishop Misago declaring the apparitions to be authentic — the only Vatican-approved Marian apparition on the African continent.

The Apparitions

The apparitions started on Nov. 28, 1981.  Alphonsine Mumureke, a 16-year-old student at the all-girls school, was helping to serve lunch when a woman’s voice called to her.  She saw a figure no one else could see — a young woman of indescribable beauty descending in a cloud.  Alphonsine, no longer aware of her surroundings, spoke, saying, “Long life to you . . . who are you, my lady?”  The woman replied, “I am the Mother of the Word.” This marked the beginning of many apparitions Alphonsine would experience over the next eight years.  Their meetings were very pleasant, causing Alphonsine to long to remain with Our Lady from whom she felt abundant love. Their initial interactions addressed Alphonsine’s private life and the need for the students to express greater ardor in prayer.

Similar to apparitions at La Sallette (1846), Lourdes (1858), Fatima (1917), and Beauraing (1932), Our Lady appeared to youth in a remote place.  And like them, Alphonsine was not initially believed. In fact, she was initially accused of witchcraft. Alphonsine suffered much from school officials and students for her claims, especially from a popular student, Marie Claire Mukangango.  Alphonsine asked Our Lady to make herself known to someone else at the school to validate her assertions.  Our Lady next appeared to 20-year-old Nathalie Mukamazimpaka. Nathalie’s experiences were like Alphonsine’s. Apparitions induced states of total obliviousness to surroundings, sudden crashing to her knees with eyes transfixed, gazing at and speaking to someone unseen and unheard. During apparitions, the strongest men could not budge them and they seemed oblivious to pain and external stimuli. Nathalie too was not believed.

The widespread incredulity at the school ended when the greatest antagonizer of the initial visionaries, Marie Claire, began experiencing apparitions. Marie Claire initially thought she was being attacked by demonic forces that visited her previously.  Only hearing Our Lady’s voice, she assumed a defensive fighting crouch, fists poised saying she was ready to fight. It has been jokingly said Marie Claire is the only person to have challenged Our Lady to a fist fight.  The experience left her converted, corroborating the assertions of the other visionaries. 

These apparitions continued for nearly a decade until 1989, inspiring the local ordinary to begin an official investigation. As word of the apparitions spread, pilgrims and members of the media from across the globe flocked to Kibeho in droves.  They came to hear Our Lady’s messages from the visionaries and to experience miracles.

Why Rwanda, and the Messages

When asked why she chose Rwanda, Our Lady expressed she was still able to find humble souls there who were not attached to wealth — a pertinent message to us all.  She said her messages were not just for the visionaries or Rwanda, but also the world.  Her messages still stand the test of time as they reach our hearts today. 

The three audiences: the visionaries, giving them unique mystical experiences and particular missions; the Rwandan people, warning them of impending doom; and the world.  The missions for the visionaries were as varied as the girls.  Alphonsine was to pray for families and the Church.  Nathalie was to offer penances for the world and pray for the souls in purgatory.  And Marie Claire was to pray and promulgate the Seven Sorrows Rosary. 

Our Lady prophetically warned Rwandans that Rwanda would become “a river of blood”— a land of unspeakable carnage — if long-simmering ethnic hatreds were not immediately addressed. 

Our Lady’s messages to the world called for personal spiritual action: return to God through prayer and fasting; perform acts of penance; convert in your hearts; express humility, love and compassion; be willing to undergo suffering, as it is efficacious in reaching heaven; and pray the rosary often, to include the 7 Sorrows Rosary.  She also offered encouragement and warnings: as our intercessor, she loves us and desires our love; convert, for the world is hurtling toward ruin. 

Miracles and Our Lady’s Love for Us

The Kibeho apparitions were much more extensive in number and duration than others. Among the miracles there were lengthy mystical journeys of the souls of the visionaries, many physical healings, true conversions of hearts, and atmospheric miracles. One eyewitness said, “The sun danced across the sky right before my eyes. It danced and changed into many colors, like a rainbow swirling in a glass circle, and then it became as gray and pale as the moon. There was suddenly another sun behind the first one, illuminating it. On the face of the moon was a giant Eucharist and chalice, and then the colors changed again — like a third sun had emerged that was red, green, and gold. And the face of the Virgin Mary appeared in the center of the sun, just as clear as day!”

On the Feast of the Assumption in 1982, pilgrims gathered expecting a joyous day, but were stunned to find Our Lady inconsolable. She explained that she cried because she was carrying to us a message of salvation that the world did not wish to receive — evidence of the deep love of the mother of sorrows whose own sorrows, and the sufferings of her Son so often go unappreciated.

As the notoriety of the pilgrimage site grew, the diocese continued its exhaustive investigation until June 29, 2001. While other visionaries appeared claiming mystical experiences, the Church has only approved the initial three as authentic. Two churches were sponsored at the apparition site for Our Lady: a chapel, and a church that was to be known as “The Place of the Reunion of the Dispersed.”  Final renovations for the chapel were completed in a dorm in 2007.  While questions about terminology linger, there are plans and efforts underway to construct a basilica as well. 

The Visionaries Today

Alphonsine fled Rwanda in 1994.  She completed a bachelor’s degree in theology and catechesis, initially joining the Poor Clares religious order.  She later sought a more secluded life completely devoted to prayers. Today she is a member of a cloistered congregation in Rome.

Nathalie also fled the country for safety.  She returned in December 1996 and found the Benebikira Sisters re-opening their convent, school and health center at Kibeho.  She currently lives in Kibeho where she helps in the Sanctuary and associates herself with the pilgrims’ prayers.

Marie Claire became a teacher and married a Rwandan journalist.  She and her husband were among the thousands of victims of the Rwandan conflict.

The Rosary of the Seven Sorrows

As we consider Marie Claire’s mission, we turn to the Seven Sorrows Rosary.  The devotion began in earnest in the 13th century with the Servite Order, when Our Lady asked them to dedicate themselves to practicing and promoting the devotion to her sorrows. In the 14th century, Our Lady shared with St. Bridget of Sweden her Seven Sorrows and the graces promised to those who faithfully practice and promulgate the devotion. The promises include:

1. I will grant peace to their families.

2. They will be enlightened about the divine mysteries.

3. I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.

4. I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of my divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.

5. I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.”

6. I will visibly help them at the moment of their death — they will see the face of their mother.

7. I have obtained this grace from my divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to my tears and dolors will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness, since all their sins will be forgiven and my Son will be their eternal consolation and joy.

Our Lady asked Marie Claire to help revive the Seven Sorrows devotion, specifically the praying of the Seven Sorrows rosary. Our Lady explained the rosary’s purpose was to help us meditate on the Passion of Jesus and the great sorrows of his mother. There is a process of inner conversion that occurs when we meditate on the mysteries of the Seven Sorrows, and when we join in the suffering of Mary and her beloved son. 

More is available about the Kibeho Marian apparitions and the Seven Sorrows Rosary in Immaculee Ilibagiza’s books, “Our Lady of Kibeho, Mary Speaks to the World from the Heart of Africa” and “A Blessing in Disguise: Miracles of the Seven Sorrows Rosary.”

Note: The Church views Marian apparitions as private revelations, not as part of the core deposit of faith. While the Church investigates and can approve them as “worthy of belief,” Catholics are not obligated to believe in them. These apparitions are seen as ways to help the faithful live more fully by the teachings of Christ, not as additions to those teachings.

(Deacon Clarence Johnson is the Assistant Director of Permanent Deacon Formation for the Diocese  of Colorado Springs and the Spiritual Advisor to the Colorado Springs Council for Black Catholics.)