Detached from the Diocese of Nyundo Diocese of Cyangugu currently covers the two administrative districts Rusizi and Nyamasheke. After it’s erection on 14. November 1981, it was entrusted to Bishop Thaddeus Ntihinyurwa, as a residential bishop until his appointment as Archbishop of Kigali on March 25, 1996, and simultaneously Apostolic Administrator of Cyangugu. On 18 January 1997 the Holy Father appointed Bishop John Damascene BIMENYIMANA as Bishop of Cyangugu.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cyangugu has a total area of 1125 km2, the rest being covered by the Nyungwe National Park and Lake Kivu. According to statistics of 2012 the total population is estimated with 681,968 inhabitants and 318,890 catholic Christians.