A number of very important events for Carmel and the Church in Burundi took place on 20 July 2024. On this same day the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was consecrated; the Carmelite Parish of Mary, Mother of the Apostles, celebrated its Golden Jubilee; and 12 Deacons and 10 Priests were ordained for the Diocese of Rutana. The Archbishop of Gitega, Mons. Bonaventure Nahimana, consecrated the new Sanctuary in the presence of thousands of pilgrims coming from the whole country.
In this region of the south-east of Burundi, devotion to the Scapular is deeply imbedded in the life of the church. In actual fact, half of the territory of the present diocese of Rutana was a mission entrusted to the Discalced Carmelites, arriving from Poland to Burundi in 1971.
The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the result of the persevering prayer of pilgrims who made their way to this village on the first Fridays and Saturdays of every month. During the years of civil war in Burundi, the faithful built up their resistance and for years there was a refugee camp beside the Carmelite parish and the hospital of the Carmelite nuns of the Infant Jesus. It was particularly these war refugees who became the first apostles of this special place. When they left the camp, they retained their nostalgia for Musongati and continue to return there, no longer as refugees, but now as devout and grateful pilgrims.
