Smaragde Mbonyintege

Smaragde Mbonyintege (born 2 February 1947) is a Rwandan prelate of the Catholic Church who was Bishop of Kabgayi in Rwanda from 2006 until 2023. He was appointed Bishop of Kabgayi Diocese by Pope Benedict XVI on 21 January 2006. His age-related retirement was accepted by Pope Francis and took effect on 2 May 2023. He now lives on as Bishop Emeritus of Kabgayi, Rwanda.

Early life and education Smaragde Mbonyintege was born on 2 February 1947 in Cyeza Parish, Kabgayi Diocese, in the Kamonyi District, in the Southern Province of Rwanda. On 20 May 1960 he was baptized Catholic in Kabgayi, when he was 13 years old. He received his confirmation on 5 July 1960.

He attended primary school in Shyanda, in Kabgayi Parish. He then attended lower secondary school in Byimana. He then studied at the Marist Brothers Teacher Training College in Save in Gisagara District in Rwanda's Southern Province. He studied at the St. Paul Minor Seminary Kigali in the Archdiocese of Kigali.

As of 2013 he was the chairman of the Episcopal Commission responsible for the Clergy, Major Seminaries. He also served as the chairman of the Episcopal Commission for Consecrated Women and that for Ecumenism. He served as the elected president of the Episcopal Conference of Rwanda (ECR).