Rutabo is the location of a Catholic mission in

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; ) was a German colonial empire, German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Portugu ...

, to the south of

Bukoba Bukoba is a city with a population of 144,938 (2022 census), situated in the northwest of Tanzania on the south-western shores of Lake Victoria. It is the capital of the Kagera region, and the administrative seat for Bukoba Urban District. The ...

in what is now Tanzania. In 1928 the Vicar Apostolic of

South Nyanza The South Cushitic or Rift languages of Tanzania are a branch of the Cushitic languages. The most numerous is Iraqw language, Iraqw, with one million speakers. Scholars believe that these languages were spoken by Southern Cushitic agro-pastoralis ...

, Joseph Sweens, was saying his breviary in the church at Rutabo when it collapsed in him. He dived under a

prie-dieu A prie-dieu ( French: literally, "pray oGod") is a type of prayer desk primarily intended for private devotional use, but which may also be found in churches. A similar form of chair in domestic furniture is called "prie-dieu" by analogy. S ...

, and was unhurt. Rutabo Diocese was founded in 1952 under Bishop

Laurean Rugambwa Laurean Rugambwa (12 July 1912 – 8 December 1997) was a Catholic Church in Tanzania, Tanzanian Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dar-es-Salaam, Archbishop of Dar es Salaam from 1968 to 1992. He was made a Cardinal (Ca ...

, and had its preparatory seminary at Rutabo. On 31 March 1960

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

made Rugambwa the first

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

n Cardinal of the Catholic Church. A 1960 sketch of the cardinal described his cathedral church of Rutaba as a makeshift structure with a roof of corrugated iron, but his diocese contained 61,000 members of his faith. In 1960 the Bunena preparatory seminary was transferred to Rutabo.

References

;Sources * * * * {{Tanzania-geo-stub Populated places in Kagera Region Populated places on Lake Victoria Catholic Church in Tanzania White Fathers missions