THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE DIOCESE OF BUKAVU
On 22nd July, 2001, about 800 people celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Diocese. Many Bukavu church authorities attended the meeting as well as provincial representatives of the government departments. The government delegation was led by His Excellency the Governor of the Province of South Kivu of which Bukavu is the capital. During his speech, Dr Dirokpa talked about the achievements of the diocese during the 25 years of its existence. Here are some of them:
1. The creation of three dioceses from the diocese of Bukavu. These are:
a) The diocese of KATANGA (formerly Shaba): inaugurated in 1986.
b) The diocese of NORTH - KIVU: inaugurated in 1992.
c) The diocese of KINDU : inaugurated in 1997.
2. The increase in the number of Christians. From the inauguration of the diocese of Bukavu until now, the number of the Christians baptized by this diocese has considerably increased from 3,000 to 200,000.
3. The building of the Cathedral which was inaugurated in November 11th,1988.
4. The building of many other churches in the parishes.
5. The building of the diocesan office.
6. Many social works such as primary and secondary schools, health care centres, literacy and other community projects.
The Bishop’s speech was followed by the one of the Provincial Governor in which he expressed his satisfaction and sincere thanks to the bishop and his co-workers for the fulfilment of such a remarkable work in our area. He then promised to give another site to the Anglican church/diocese of Bukavu in order to enable it to extend its religious and social activities.