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Styles of
**Laurean Rugambwa**
Styles of; Laurean Rugambwa
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Dar es Salaam (emeritus)

His Eminence

Laurean Rugambwa
His Eminence; Laurean Rugambwa
Archbishop Emeritus of Dar-es-Salaam
Church	Catholic Church
Archdiocese	Dar-es-Salaam
See	Dar-es-Salaam
Appointed	19 December 1969
Term ended	22 July 1992
Predecessor	Edgar Aristide Maranta
Successor	Polycarp Pengo
Other post(s)	Cardinal-Priest of San Francesco d'Assisi a Ripa Grande (1960-92)
Previous post(s)	Vicar Apostolic of Lower Kagera (1951-53); Titular Bishop of Febiana (1951-53); Bishop of Rutabo (1953-60); Bishop of Bukoba (1960-68);
Orders
Ordination	12 December 1943; by Burkhard Huwiler
Consecration	10 February 1952; by David James Mathew
Created cardinal	28 March 1960; by Pope John XXIII
Rank	Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born	Laurean Rugambwa; 12 July 1912; Bukoba, German East Africa
Died	8 December 1997 (aged 85); Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania
Alma mater	Pontifical Urbaniana University
Motto	Mater boni consilii

Laurean Rugambwa (July 12, 1912 – December 8, 1997) was a Tanzanian prelate who was the first modern native African cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Dar es Salaam from 1968 to 1992, and was made a cardinal in 1960 by Pope John XXIII.

Biography

Laurean Rugambwa was born to an aristocratic family in Bukongo, Tanganyika (present-day Kagera Region of Tanzania), and baptized with his parents^[1] at age 8, on March 19, 1921. After studying at Katigondo National Major Seminary in Uganda,^[2] he was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Burcardo Huwiler, MAfr, on December 12, 1943. Rugambwa then did missionary work in West Africa until 1949, when he went to Rome to study at the Pontifical Urbaniana University, from which he obtained his doctorate in canon law.

On December 13, 1951, Rugambwa was appointed titular bishop of Febiana and the first Apostolic Vicar of Lower Kagera. The youngest of Africa's bishops,^[1] he received his episcopal consecration on February 10, 1952, from Archbishop David Mathew, with Bishops Joseph Kiwanuka, MAfr, and Joseph Blomjous serving as co-consecrators. When his apostolic vicariate was elevated to a diocese on March 25, 1953, Rugambwa was named Bishop of Rutabo by Pope Pius XII. He was created Cardinal Priest of S. Francesco a Ripa by Pope John XXIII in the consistory of March 28, 1960. He was the first native African cardinal of the modern era. On the following June 21, his diocese was renamed Bukoba.

Described as a progressive,^[3] Rugambwa attended the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965. He strongly pushed for the Roman Curia to be internationalized. He was also an advocate of inter-Christian ecumenism.^[4]

After Vatican II Rugambwa was active in implementing its reforms. He was one of the cardinal electors in the 1963 papal conclave that elected Pope Paul VI. Advanced to Archbishop of Dar es Salaam on December 19, 1968, he later participated in the conclaves of August and October 1978, which elected Popes John Paul I and John Paul II respectively. Rugambwa resigned as Dar es Salaam's archbishop on July 22, 1992, after twenty-three years of service, during which he founded the first Catholic hospital in Ukonga and a female Roman Catholic religious institute, the Little Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi.

Death

Rugambwa died in Dar es Salaam at the age of 85. He was buried in the cathedral of the Bukoba diocese after his remains were transferred from a parish church in the Kagera Region. His death left just two cardinals created by John XXIII, Raul Silva Henriquez and Franz König.

Trivia

In 1961, the Cardinal received an honorary doctorate in laws from the University of Notre Dame.^[5]
Before returning to Tanzania after the August 1978 conclave, he visited the United States, where he then received word of Pope John Paul I's death.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b TIME Magazine. Seven New Hats March 14, 1960
^ New York Times obituary
^ TIME Magazine. Council of Renewal October 5, 1962
^ Bohlen, Celestine (11 December 1997). "Laurean Rugambwa, Chosen Africa's First Cardinal, 85 (Published 1997)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2020-11-16.
^ TIME Magazine. Kudos June 9, 1961
^ TIME Magazine. The September Pope October 9, 1978

External links

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by none	Bishop of Bukoba 1951–1968	Succeeded by Placidus Nkalanga, OSB
Preceded by Edgard Maranta, OFM Cap	Archbishop of Dar es Salaam 1969–1992	Succeeded by Polycarp Pengo