Kibeho is a small town in south Rwanda, famous for various reports of sightings of the Virgin Mary and Jesus between 1981 and 1989.
The Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ reportedly appeared to some teenagers in Kibeho in the 1980, as Our Lady of Kibeho.
These visions were accompanied by intense reactions: crying, tremors, and comas.
The local Roman Catholic Bishop in Rwanda (who however, has been accused of complicity in genocide) has approved these apparitions, but they have not been given final approval by the Holy Office.
On August 19, 1982, those who saw the visions reported gruesome sights (rivers of blood, sliced heads, etc.)
which some today regard as an ominous foreshadowing of the Rwandan Genocide of 1994, and particularly in that specific location in 1995.
After the 1994 genocide, Kibeho was the site of an internally displaced person (IDP) refugee camp, with many of the refugees suspected of having participated in the genocide.
The camp was the largest in Rwanda, spreading 9 square kilometers and containing between 80,000 and 100,000 people.
“In November 1981, apparitions began in Kibeho, Rwanda, Africa, to seven visionaries: Alphonsine, Emmanuel, Anathalie, Marie-Claire, Stephanie, Agnes, and Vestine.
Three of them were boarders in a college administered by nuns in a poor area, and three others live in the bush.
“Our Lord appeared independently to a young pagan, Sagstashe, who has since taken the Christian name Emmanuel.
Our Lord taught him the Our Father and gave him instructions on the faith. Emmanuel was given the following message from the Blessed Mother:
‘There isn’t much time left in preparing for the Last Judgment. We must change our live, renounce sin. Pray and prepare for our own death and for the end of the world. We must prepare while there is still time. Those who do well will go to Heaven. If they do evil, they will condemn themselves with no hope of appeal. Do not lose time in doing good and praying. There is not much time and Jesus will come.’
Although the apparitions ended for six of the visionaries by 1983, Alphonsine continues to receive apparitions almost every year on November 28. Her last apparition was on November 28, 1989. In these apparitions, Our Lady calls herself the ‘Mother of the Word.’ She emphasizes the importance of the rosary and prayer and to love ourselves and others. Jesus told Emmanuel,
‘Too many people treat their neighbors dishonestly. The world is full of hatred. You will know my Second Coming is at hand when you see the outbreak of religious wars. Then, know that I am on the way.’
The Blessed Mother told them,
‘I have come to prepare the way for my Son for your good and you do not want to understand. The time remaining is short and you are absent-minded. You are distracted by the goods of this world which are passing. I have seen many of my children getting lost and I have come to show them the true way.’
The apparitions in Kibeho, Africa, were approved in the first stage by the local bishop on August 15, 1988, thus allowing public devotion. The Church is continuing to review these events.”