The building is constructed from red brick, but its facade is embellished with white panels.

Constructed when Rwanda was still part of the German colonial empire in 1913, the building is one of the largest churches in the city.

During the Rwandan genocide of 1994 thousands of Tutsi and Hutu took refuge in the church and many were massacred, following the death of President Juvénal Habyarimana.

[1] Witnesses have alleged that the priest in charge of the church, Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, who had armed himself, helped Hutu Power militias take people from the church to be killed.

"[3][4][5] Speaking ten years later, Father Antoine Kambanda, director of the local branch of the Caritas charity, acknowledged that some members of the Catholic Church in Rwanda had been involved in the killings, although others had done what they could to prevent them.