Chapel accommodates 150 worshippers, resolves overcrowding

(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Green Park (formerly Don Bosco Hospitality Center), located in Kicukiro in the southeastern part of Kigali, Rwanda, has a new chapel thanks to donor funding. The funding was provided by Salesian Missions, the U.S. development arm of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

The chapel has been fully constructed and furnished with custom-designed and locally crafted wooden elements that enhance the spiritual atmosphere and support comfort and accessibility during services.

Prior to the construction project, the center faced a significant challenge with the existing chapel, which was extremely small and structurally dilapidated. It lacked proper ventilation, comfortable seating and accessibility. This made it impossible to comfortably and safely host local students, staff, and visiting tourists for retreats, liturgies, and pastoral counseling.

A Salesian noted, “The new chapel provides an inviting, dignified and accessible sanctuary that accommodates up to 150 worshippers per service, completely resolving the severe overcrowding and structural safety hazards of the previous 50-person capacity room. Its positive spiritual and social impact spans across many groups who use the chapel.”

Students attending the training and vocational center now have a comfortable space to celebrate Catholic Mass and gather for group retreats and educational youth activities. Local families and parishioners have a space for baptisms, weddings, thanksgiving celebrations and private prayer. In addition, the employees working at Don Bosco Green Park now have an easily accessible sanctuary to sit in prayer, seek personal reflection, and find moments of spiritual comfort and peace during their working days.

Manzi Guillaume, an employee of Don Bosco Green Park, shared his personal and professional appreciation for the newly reconstructed chapel. Guillaume emphasized that the new chapel was a vital, long-awaited necessity for both the employees working at the center and the diverse groups of visitors who stay there.

He said, “Many visitors who come here, both foreigners from different parts of the world and residents staying at the center, need a place where they can pray, reflect, and meet with God. Today, we appreciate the way the chapel was designed and built. It provides a welcoming and meaningful space where Rwandans can feel at home and have a suitable place to pray. At the same time, foreigners visiting or staying in Rwanda can also find a place where they can meet God, reflect and pray.”

Guillaume highlighted how the new chapel has become the spiritual anchor of the entire center, offering a multicultural sanctuary of peace.

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Sources:

Photo courtesy of Salesian Missions (contact for usage permissions)

Salesian Missions – Rwanda

UNICEF – Rwanda