p. Schadrack Matthieu Dunia, dc
On Sunday, February 16, 2025, the new community of Kirundo celebrated its first year of life. It was an opportunity to thank the Lord – who was alongside our religious family when it was called to increase its presence in the Burundian Church – and all the people who were close to us, accompanying us in the early days of our settlement in Kirundo. The celebration began on Saturday evening with solemn vespers, followed by dinner shared with the priests of Kanyinya and some religious and lay people from the Doctrinarie community. On Sunday, we celebrated Mass in the branch churches as usual.
The project in Kirundo “Villagio Padre Santoro” is currently in its second phase which sees us engaged in the construction of the hall for catechesis that will initially serve as a parish church. The works are almost finished and are proceeding hand in hand with the construction and preparation of the other structures necessary for the parish.
The visit of Msgr. Joachim Ntahondereye, bishop of Muyinga
On Saturday, March 22, Monsignor Joachim Ntahondereye, Bishop of Muyinga, returning from a parish that was celebrating the patronal feast, visited our community to see how the work is progressing. He was pleased with the size and structure of the hall and told us what his project is for the parish.
The bishop would have liked to inaugurate the new parish in September with the beginning of the new pastoral year, but since the canonical erection of the parish requires the presence of the ordinary of the Congregation or his delegate, we agreed with Monsignor Joachim Ntahondereye to set the date in August, because some of us will be on pilgrimage to Rome.
Towards the new parish
After the visit of Bishop Joachim we are preparing. Getting ready for the canonical erection of the parish is a long journey and requires a lot of commitment for many things. For this reason, for example, we asked the bishop for permission to start celebrating masses on Sundays. The bishop granted it, but we need to arrange the benches to sit, set up the altar and other things… In June the Sunday mass will be a reality and Monsignor Joachim will also confirm the territorial delimitation of the new parish.
We will also begin the process of preparing people to welcome the new parish as a new family and at the same time we will begin to imagine and design the parish structures: from the church to the parish offices, from the secretariat to the catechism rooms.
We will also have to think about ways of self-financing for the parish community and building two halls for celebrations and opening four shops for the purchases of the population in the surrounding area, given that the parish is located along the road.
All this requires many resources and the Congregation of the Doctrinaries has already done a lot to get to where we are. We still ask for the generosity of many to carry forward this project and we take this opportunity to say heartfelt thanks again to those who have donated generously to finance the “Villaggio padre Santoro”, entrusting ourselves to the maternal intercession of Mary and of Saint Cesare to whom the new parish will be dedicated.
The cutting of the cake to celebrate one year of the Dottrinaria community's presence in Kirundo
The exterior of Father Santoro Village in Kirundo
