RWANDA: Renewed trust

‘Shielded from justice’

Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo who accompanied President Kagame to the Vatican, said resident Kagame and the Holy Father discussed several aspects of the relationship between Rwanda and the Holy See.

Mushikiwabo said the meeting was held in “a spirit of openness and mutual respect”.

“It is a positive step forward in the relationship between Rwanda and the Holy See, based on a frank and shared understanding of Rwanda’s history and the imperative to combat genocide ideology. It allows us to build a stronger base for restoring harmony between Rwandans and the Catholic Church,” she said.

She said President Kagame commended the Church’s contributions to Rwanda’s socio-economic development, particularly in the education and health sectors.”

She said Kagame and the Pope discussed the Church’s role in the most tragic chapters of Rwanda’s past, including those leading up to the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994.

Well before 1994, Catholic institutions and missions, together with the colonial administration, played a decisive role in dividing Rwandans and laying the intellectual foundation for genocide ideology.

Mushikiwabo said the Catholic Church is “facilitating” efforts to help survivors and repentant perpetrators live and work side by side.

But the minister said that there were those in the church who were still protecting genocide perpetrators.

“Today, genocide denial and trivialisation continue to flourish in certain groups within the Church and genocide suspects have been shielded from justice within Catholic institutions,” she said.

About half of Rwandans are Catholic, but since the genocide many have turned to Pentecostal churches.

“The pope’s gesture is a way for him to put back into play a Rwandan Catholic Church effectively discredited” by the scandal, wrote Nicolas Seneze, the Rome correspondent for the French daily La Croix.

Rwanda’s progress in reconciliation and economic development was noted, including the fact that survivors and repentant perpetrators have learned to live and work side-by-side, and that shared Catholic faith has facilitated these efforts and provided comfort.

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editor@independent.co.ug