Catholic Church: Yes, Members Planned, Aided 1994 Genocide

Statement was read out at churches around Rwanda
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 21, 2016 12:06 AM CST
Catholic Bishops Apologize for Rwanda Genocide
The skulls and bones of some of those who were slaughtered as they sought refuge inside a church are laid out as a memorial.   (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

The Catholic Church in Rwanda apologized on Sunday for the church's role in the 1994 genocide, saying it regretted the actions of those who participated in the massacres. "We apologize for all the wrongs the church committed. We apologize 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 AP reports. 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, 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, and 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 last king of Rwanda died in the US last month.)

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