Eighth-grader serves at Mass with Rwandan cardinal

Winston Matthews regularly serves at Mass at his parish, St. Margaret Mary in Omaha.

But he recently had a unique opportunity to serve at a Mass with Cardinal Antoine Kambanda of Rwanda.

The eighth-grader at St. Margaret Mary School traveled with family members to the Des Moines area for a special Mass on Sept. 7 for Rwandan refugees at St. Boniface Church in Waukee, Iowa.

A great-uncle uncle at the Iowa parish, Phil Harrington, had recommended Winston as an altar server.

Cardinal Kambanda of the Archdiocese of Kigali – the first cardinal from Rwanda – had been visiting several cities in the United States to raise money and awareness for the needs of Rwandans and Rwandan refugees.

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Though the nation lately has enjoyed political stability, it suffered from ethnic cleansing and human rights violations during the Rwandan genocide of the 1990s. An estimated 800,000 people were killed, including every member of Cardinal Kambanda’s family except one brother.

Though Winston has been an altar server for two years and has served at Masses with Archbishop George J. Lucas, the young man was a little nervous about serving with the cardinal at the 2 p.m. Mass at St. Boniface, his mother, Amanda Harrington, said – especially because the Mass was celebrated in the Rwandan native language of Kinyarwanda.

But Winston was there to serve, Harrington said, and he discovered that Cardinal Kambanda was not intimidating; he was just another person there to serve.

Overall, the experience had Winston “grinning from ear to ear,” she said.

Cardinal Kambanda was ordained a priest by St. John Paul II on Sept. 8, 1990, during the pope’s pastoral visit to Rwanda.

He was ordained a bishop in 2013 and became Archbishop of Kigali in 2018. Pope Francis elevated him to cardinal in 2020.

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Winston and Cardinal Kambanda are pictured with Winston’s grandparents, Terry and Cindy Harrington. COURTESY PHOTO

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