Fwd: [sudans-john-ashworth] Rwandan Bishops apologise for Church’s role in genocide

[Elisabeth Janaina]

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From: "John Ashworth" <ashwor...@gmail.com>
Date: 1 Dec 2016 11:11
Subject: [sudans-john-ashworth] Rwandan Bishops apologise for Church’s role in genocide
To: "Group" <sudans-joh...@googlegroups.com>
Cc:

Bishops apologise for Church’s role in Rwandan genocide

The Church acknowledged that members planned and took part in the
genocide, in which more than 800,000 people were killed

by Associated Press
posted Monday, 21 Nov 2016

The Catholic Church in Rwanda apologised on Sunday for the Church’s
role in the 1994 genocide, saying it regretted the actions of those
who participated in the massacres.

“We apologise for all the wrongs the Church committed. We apologise on
behalf of all Christians for all forms of wrongs we committed. We
regret that Church members violated their oath of allegiance to God’s
commandments,” said the statement by the Conference of Catholic
Bishops, which was read out in parishes across the country.

The statement acknowledged that Church members planned, aided and
executed the genocide, in which more than 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and
moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu extremists.

In the years since the genocide — which was sparked by a contentious
plane crash that killed the then-president, a Hutu — the local Church
had resisted efforts by the government and groups of survivors to
acknowledge the Church’s complicity in mass murder, saying those
Church officials who committed crimes acted individually.

Many of the victims died at the hands of priests, clergymen and nuns,
according to some accounts by survivors, and the Rwandan government
says many died in the churches where they had sought refuge.

The bishops’ statement is seen as a positive development in Rwanda’s
efforts at reconciliation.

“Forgive us for the crime of hate in the country to the extent of also
hating our colleagues because of their ethnicity. We didn’t show that
we are one family but instead killed each other,” the statement said.

The statement was timed to coincide with the formal end Sunday of the
Holy Year of Mercy declared by Pope Francis to encourage greater
reconciliation and forgiveness in his Church and in the world, said
Bishop Phillipe Rukamba, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Rwanda.

Tom Ndahiro, a Rwandan genocide researcher, said he hoped the Church’s
statement will encourage unity among Rwandans.

“I am also happy to learn that in their statement, bishops apologize
for not having been able to avert the genocide,” he said.

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/11/21/bishops-apologise-for-churchs-role-in-rwandan-genocide/

END
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