The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
‘Renewed trust’
Francis, 80, said he hoped “this humble recognition of the failings of that period, which, unfortunately, disfigured the face of the Church, may contribute to a ‘purification of memory'” and promote “renewed trust”.
Several Catholic priests as well as nuns and brothers were charged with participating in the genocide and tried by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and by a Belgian court, leading to some convictions while others were acquitted.
The highest-ranking Church official to be tried for genocide was the late bishop Augustin Misago, who was acquitted and freed from prison in June 2000.
During the 20th anniversary commemorations in April 2014, Kagame accused the Catholic Church of having “participated fully” in establishing the colonial ideology that created the divide between Hutus and Tutsis, which he said led to the genocide.
In November, a letter of apology signed by the bishops representing the nine dioceses in Rwanda was read in all churches.
But the Rwandan government said the local apology was not sufficient considering the crimes committed.
Jean-Pierre Dusingizemungu, head of the Ibuka survivors group, called the Pope’s words a “giant step taken by the church” that would “help us fight the negationism and ideology of genocide”.
