{For the tens of thousands who hang on his every uplifting word and seek solace from the supernatural powers many contend he channels, they don’t like when he leaves them.}
“People in Rwanda say, ‘You abandoned us. You left us,’” the Rev. Ubald Rugirangoga said earlier this week.
The beloved “Father Ubald” has good reason for taking periodic sabbaticals outside his Central Africa homeland. Tens of thousands more people in other parts of the world have beseeched the presence of the longtime priest with a unique mysticism.
Rugirangoga is in the early stages of his latest transcontinental tour. He started in Germany last month before coming to the United States in early September.
After visits to Jackson Hole, Wyo., and Denver, Rugirangoga arrived in Green Bay this week. A capacity congregation is expected for the healing Mass he will give at 11 a.m. Friday in the chapel at The Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion.
“We usually pack the house. This is one of our biggest healing Masses,” said Karen Tipps, the coordinator at the shrine. “Whenever Father Ubald is here, we have standing-room-only usually in the church. They’re anxious to get here. And, they come from Chicago and Minnesota and everywhere when we have a healing Mass.”
Tipps advises those with an interest in making the journey to the popular shrine northeast of Green Bay to arrive early to secure a parking spot and a seat in the sanctuary.
Rugirangoga, who will be celebrating with facility rector the Rev. Peter Stryker, has come to the shrine a handful of times the last few years. It is one of Rugirangoga’s favorite destinations when he makes his rounds through the U.S. and North America – this purpose-filled trip continues with upcoming stops in Nashville, Tenn., and Dallas, then on to Canada before he returns to Rwanda in early November.
“I am with friends,” Rugirangoga, 58, said. “I am at the shrine. I pray.”
Sending up prayers in the name of forgiveness, reconciliation, hope and healing is what Rugirangoga does without reluctance or fatigue practically 24/7.
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