Credonia Mwerinde (born 1952) was the high priestess and co-founder of the

Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God The Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God (MRTC or MRTCG) was a religious movement founded by Credonia Mwerinde and Joseph Kibweteere in southwestern Uganda, notorious for the mass death of several hundred members of the ...

(MRTC), a

sect A sect is a subgroup of a religion, religious, politics, political, or philosophy, philosophical belief system, typically emerging as an offshoot of a larger organization. Originally, the term referred specifically to religious groups that had s ...

that splintered from the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. Before founding the movement, she was a shopkeeper,

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

, and a prostitute. She and two other group members approached

Joseph Kibweteere Joseph Kibweteere (16 November 1932 – disappeared 17 March 2000) was one of the leaders of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, a group that splintered from the Catholic Church in Uganda and became infamous after ...

in 1989 and said that the Virgin Mary had instructed him to take them in; together, Mwerinde and Kibweteere would found the MRTC in 1989.

Early life

Before founding the movement she was a shopkeeper,

banana beer Banana beer is an alcoholic beverage made from Ethanol fermentation, fermentation of mashed bananas. Commercial sorghum, Sorghum, millet or maize flour are added as a source of wild yeast. Etymology In Uganda, banana beer is known as ''mubisi'', ...

, and a prostitute. Mwerinde was also a member of a religious group devoted to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. She and two other group members approached

in 1989, and said that the Virgin Mary had instructed him to take them in. Kibweteere did, and he was particularly struck by her claim of a

Marian apparition A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance of Mary, the mother of Jesus. While sometimes described as a type of vision, apparitions are generally regarded as external manifestations, whereas visions are more often understood as ...

near his home, which related to a vision he himself had five years earlier. Together, Mwerinde and Kibweteere would found the Movement in 1989.

Background

Mwerinde was part of the trio that led the sect, which included Kibweteere, and Dominic Kataribaabo, an

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

. However Paul Ikazire, a sect leader who later returned to the Catholic Church, described her as being the true power in the Movement. He said, "The meetings were chaired by Sister Credonia, who was the de facto head of the group. Kibwetere was just a figurehead, intended to impose masculine authority over the followers and enhance the cult's public relations." Mwerinde was also the source of the sect's predictions of an

apocalypse Apocalypse () is a literary genre originating in Judaism in the centuries following the Babylonian exile (597–587 BCE) but persisting in Christianity and Islam. In apocalypse, a supernatural being reveals cosmic mysteries or the future to a ...

and the pronouncements that salvation could only be found with the Virgin Mary's messages. The Movement grew rapidly, and at its height membership was estimated as being between 5,000 and 6,000.

Defrocked Defrocking, unfrocking, degradation, or laicization of clergy is the removal of their rights to exercise the functions of the ordained ministry. It may be grounded on criminal convictions, disciplinary problems, or disagreements over doctrine or ...

Catholic priests and nuns joined and worked as

theologians Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

. The

was predicted to occur with the advent of the new

millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

. After the Movement was evicted from Rwashamaire, it moved to an estate Mwerinde's father owned in the

Kanungu District Kanungu District is a Districts of Uganda, district in the Western Region, Uganda, Western Region of Uganda. The town of Kanungu is the site of the district headquarters. Location Kanungu District is bordered by Rukungiri District to the north a ...

. With the year 2000 approaching, sect members sold their property and turned the profits over to the group's leadership. When the world did not end by 1 January, a crisis occurred in the Movement. Members began to ask questions and demand the return of their money and property. Police investigators believe that Movement leadership, particularly Mwerinde, began a purge of their followers culminating in the destruction of their Kanangu Church on 17 March 2000 in a fire that killed all 530 inside. Hundreds of bodies were also found at Movement properties across southwestern Uganda. Initially believed to be a

mass suicide Mass suicide is a form of suicide, occurring when a group of people simultaneously kill themselves. Mass suicide sometimes occurs in religious settings. In war, defeated groups may resort to mass suicide rather than being captured. Suicide pacts ...

, police later stated that they were investigating it as a

mass murder Mass murder is the violent crime of murder, killing a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. A mass murder typically occurs in a single location where one or more ...

Disappearance and aftermath

Mwerinde is assumed to have survived the church conflagration. Ugandan authorities believe that she left the sect's Kanangu compound in the early hours of March 17. In April 2000, police issued an international warrant for her arrest in connection to the sect killings. In September 2011, Mwerinde and several other prognosticators who incorrectly predicted various dates for the end of the world were jointly awarded an

Ig Nobel Prize The Ig Nobel Prize () is a satirical prize awarded annually since 1991 to promote public engagement with scientific research. Its aim is to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name of the award is a ...

for "teaching the world to be careful when making mathematical assumptions and calculations".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mwerinde, Credonia 1952 births 20th-century apocalypticists 20th-century Roman Catholics 21st-century apocalypticists 21st-century Roman Catholics Founders of new religious movements Fugitives Living people Marian visionaries Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God Ugandan Roman Catholics Businesspeople in brewing Female sex workers 21st-century Ugandan women Ig Nobel laureates Women Christian religious leaders

Early life

Background

Disappearance and aftermath

See also

References