GITEGA August 17th (ABP) – The President of the Republic of Burundi, Mr. Evariste Ndayishimiye, accompanied by Vice President Prosper Bazombanza, Prime Minister Gervais Ndirakobuca, Ombudsman Aimée Laurentine Kanyana and other different authorities of the country, joined, on Tuesday, August 15, 2023, a large crowd of Christians of the Catholic Church who came from all over the country and neighboring countries, in the celebration of the Assumption Day, at the Marian shrine of Mugera in the Bugendana commune of the Gitega province (center of the country).
It was also the occasion of the closing of the jubilee year of 125 years of evangelization in Burundi, by the missionaries.
In his speech, President Ndayishimiye commended the step already taken in belief and in evangelization in Burundi. He also said that he was delighted with the good relations that exist between the various religious denominations approved in Burundi and the government. He reminded pilgrims that the ruin of Mugera has always been a sacred place where Burundians gather to invoke God, hence the name “Mu Mana za Mugera”.
President Ndayishimiye also praised the degree of involvement of the Catholic Church in the development of the country, through various sectors of national life such as education, health and the economy. To that end, he advised Christians in particular, and the people of Burundi in general, to focus more on development work to ensure the country’s welfare, as the Bible stipulates that “who does not want to work, must not eat”.
The archbishop of the archdiocese of Gitega, at the same time leader of the conference of bishops in Burundi, Mgr. Bonaventure Nahimana, called on the people to fight against the division with all their might, in order to promote peace and security, source of sustainable development.