Cyprien and Daphrose Rugamba

Cyprien (ca. 1935–1994) and Daphrose Rugamba (ca. 1944–1994) were a married couple from Rwanda, who introduced the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and the Emmanuel Community to their country in 1990. Rugamba was a member of the Hutu ethnic group but was considered by many to be a Rwandan who created art for all people due to the general impression that his works, which included actors from all ethnic groups, embodied a concentrated focus on writing about Rwandan history and culture, regardless of ethnicity. His wife was an ethnic Tutsi and were both assassinated in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The cause for their canonization in the Catholic Church was opened in 2015.

Biography

Cyprien [Sipiriyani] Rugamba attended primary in Nyamagabe. In September 1948, he was admitted to Saint Leon Minor Seminary of Kabgayi where he finished in 1954 and moved to Nyakibanda Major Seminary. He also studied history in Burundi and in Belgium. He had a talent for poetry, music, and choreography, with a particular interest for ancestral art forms in Rwanda. He served as director of the Rwandan National Institute for Scientific Studies in Butare.

Daphrose [Daforoza] Mukasanga was a school teacher, born in the same village of Cyanika in the south of Rwanda as Cyprien. They married in 1965, but the relationship was not easy; Cyprien neglected Daphrose and was unfaithful to her, leading to a separation. In 1982 Cyprien, who had lost his Catholic faith, had a religious experience which restored their marriage. They moved to Kigali, where they established a feeding center for street children. They encountered the Emmanuel Community in 1989 through Fidesco and went on a pilgrimage to Paray-le-Monial. When they returned to Rwanda, they started a household (a weekly sharing group). The first Community Weekend took place on 22–23 September 1990, thereby establishing the Emmanuel Community in that nation.

The independence of the Republic of Rwanda led to ethnic tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi peoples. Cyprien and Daphrose advocated peace. Cyprien advised President Juvénal Habyarimana to stop the registration of ethnicity on identity cards. He was warned that this stance would place him on a hit list. The couple were killed, with six of their ten children, on 7 April 1994 - one day after the assassination of the president, which marked the start of the Rwandan genocide.

Legacy

In 1992 the Rugambas started a center in Kigali to feed and educate street children. Since 1995, after the genocide, this center has been managed by Fidesco. It is now called Centre Cyprien et Daphrose Rugamba (CECYDAR). In 2015 Cyprien and Daphrose Rugamba were declared "heroic in virtue," marking the start of the formal process towards their canonization as saints recognised by the Catholic Church. The diocesan inquiry phase of their cause was completed in 2021.

References

External links

• Cyprien et Daphrose Rugamba Archived 2018-03-05 at the Wayback Machine, official web site of the Emmanuel Community (in French).
• "I will enter the gates of heaven dancing", documentary (26 min.) of the life and work of Cyprien and Daphrose Rugamba.

1. List of venerated persons from Africa
2. List of venerated couples
3. I'll enter heaven dancing
4. 1994 in Rwanda
5. List of people declared Servants of God under Pope Francis