“Thou shalt not kill”

The History of the Catholic Church and Racial division in Rwanda

Name: Helmi Moret Student ID: 10837965 Date: 11-7-2016 Degree: Master Thesis History, Holocaust and Genocide studies Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Nanci Adler

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Contents

Introduction 3

Chapter one: History of European settlement in Rwanda from 1890 to 1945 5

Chapter two: The new Rwandan society 13

Chapter three: The Genocide and Radicalized priest 24

Chapter four: The Rwandan regime and the Catholic bishops 34

Chapter five: The Vatican and the 1994 Rwandan genocide 44

Conclusion 58

Bibliography 63

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Introduction

During the spring of 1994, the small African country of Rwanda was center stage of one of the most brutal genocides in human history. During a period of approximately 100 days, an estimated 800,000 people were massacred by machete. The Rwandan genocide is set apart from other genocides by its sheer brutality and the high speed with which the perpetrators killed their victims. It is also set apart by its intimacy because most victims knew their killers. Most victims and perpetrators came from the same village, had gone to the same school and, perhaps most surprisingly, went to the same church. This is an important aspect that makes the Rwandan genocide different from other genocide the world has seen to date, namely that both victims and predators of the genocide had the same religion. Almost 90% of Rwandans were, at the time, Christians, making Rwanda the most Christian nation in Africa. In addition, more than 70% of the population was Catholic. Attendance at Holy Mass was also very high, about 95% of the Rwandan Catholics attendant church at least once a week.1 During the genocide, these churches became the primary killing sites. Victims were murdered inside churches or on church property where they had hoped to find sanctuary. Where Nazi Germany had its “death camps”, it seems that Rwanda had its “death churches”.2 The focus of this thesis is on the role of the Catholic Church in the 1994 genocide. Research into the actions of the Catholic Church during the genocide is important because of its pivotal role in Rwandan society at the time of the genocide. Although some research has been done to determine the role of the church and in particular the Catholic Church in the genocide, there are some issues that need further examination. For instance, why was the Catholic Church with so much influence in Rwandan society unable to stop the violence between its own parishioners? In her book ‘Leave none to tell the story’ Alisson des Forges makes the following statement about the clergy in time of the Rwandan genocide: “By not issuing a prompt, firm condemnation of the killing campaign, Church authorities left the way clear for officials, politicians, and propagandists to assert that the slaughter actually met with God’s favor.”3 However, the emphases of this thesis is that the Catholic Church had a greater role in the genocide than just failing to speak out against the violence. First of all the Catholic Church by

1 “International mass attendance,” Cara services, accessed at October 19, 2015, http://cara.georgetown.edu/CARAServices/intmassattendance.html. 2 Timothy Longman, Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010) 5. 3 Alison Des Forges, Leave none to tell the story; Genocide in Rwanda (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1999) 245-6. 3 its own history in Rwanda, was both a force behind ethnic discrimination as well as an instrument of ethnic radicalization. Secondly, not only did the Catholic Church fail to intervene, some members of the clergy openly showed their disdain for the Tutsi minority and actively sided with the génocidaires. And finally the international leadership of the Catholic Church has had trouble accepting a retributive justice system to punish those responsible in the genocide. This combination of silence at the top and grassroots participation transformed the fifth commandment from “Thou Shalt Not Kill” into “Thou Shalt Kill” for 100 days in Rwanda. The thesis is written in two parts; the first part consists of two chapters that give a general, historical overview of the way the Catholic Church established itself in Rwanda. The story of the Rwandan genocide and the role of the Catholic Church cannot be told without explaining the history of the country. The first part explains why the early history of colonization in Rwanda created an atmosphere in which the Catholic Church was able to secure political and societal power. In the second part of the thesis, which consists of chapters 3, 4 and 5, the actions of the Catholic Church during and after the genocide is examined. The intention is to look to the how and why the Catholic Church failed in upholding its own moral principles during the genocide. The chapters are divided into the hierarchal levels of the Catholic Church. Chapter 3 looks at the action taken by locale priest, chapter 4 looks at the role of Bishops and Archbishop in Rwanda and finally chapter 5 looks at the role the Vatican had in the Rwandan genocide.

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Chapter 1 History of European settlement in Rwanda from 1890 to 1945

In this chapter there will be a description of how the European colonization took place. Special emphasis will be given to the history and settlement of the Catholic Church. This chapter aims to show how the Catholic Church struggled to convert the people of Rwanda and how eventually this led to a construction of an ethnic discourse and a top down conversion policy with far reaching consequences for the Rwanda society.

Arrival of the Germans Rwanda is a small, landlocked country in East Africa which was colonized very late at the end of the 19th Century by the German empire. The history of Rwanda prior to the colonization remains somewhat unclear to this day. However, there appears to have been central control throughout the country, held by the mwami (king). 4 From 1895 onwards, the Rwanda kingdom experienced great turmoil. The old king, King Kigeli IV Rwabugiri who had ruled the country from 1860 died in 1895, and there were problems surrounding his succession. The King had designated his son, Rutalindwa, as heir to the throne. Rutalindwa’s own mother was found to be politically too weak for the role of Queen Mother, important in the Rwandan court, so Kigeli decided, just before his death that this position should be fulfilled one of his other wives. The King chose his wife, Kanjogera, as Queen Mother. She was supposed to protect Rutalindwa as heir to the thrown as well as being the manager of the royal household. After the death of Kigeli, Kanjogera used her power to depose and assassinate Rutalindwa in 1896, placing her own son on the throne. Given the youth of the new monarch, she effectively ruled Rwanda with her brother, Kabare. 5 In 1897, a small group of German soldiers appeared at the royal court. The German empire was searching for new colonial territories because, as it was just recently formed, it was somewhat behind in the race for territorial expansion in Africa when compared to France and Great Brittan. When the Germans arrived at court, they realized that the new King Musinga needed support to consolidate his power and they were quite eager to help. By

4 Gérard Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis; History of a Genocide (London: Hurst & Co, 1995) 9. 5 Ibid., 23-24. 5 helping the new king, the German empire was directly connected to the central power in Rwanda. 6

Arrival of the White Fathers With the German convoy was a group of missionaries called the White Fathers. The White Fathers was a missionary order founded by Monseigneur Charles Lavigerie (1825-1892), a Jesuit and former archbishop of Carthage and Algiers. He was a confidant of Pope Leo XIII and an outspoken crusader against slavery. After his appointment as archbishop of Algiers, he created a new Jesuit order, the Society of Missionaries of Africa (Société des missionnaires d'Afrique). Because of their white Arabic-style robes, the missionaries were locally called the White Fathers (Pères Blancs). The mission of the White Fathers was to spread the word of Christ in Africa. Lavigerie instructed the missionaries to form bonds with local people by adopting their language, diet and some of their customs. Given their mandate to learn the local language within six months of their arrival, the White Fathers became the leading European experts in African languages in their time. The mission of the White Fathers was, however, plagued by several problems. The main problem was a consequence of the Jesuits’ belief that the first duty of the Church was to care for the most weak in society. This was expressed, for example, by the number of orphanages founded by Lavigerie when he was archbishop of Algiers. However, many of these projects failed due to obstruction from local governments who were concerned that the conversion to Christianity of their subjects’ conversion to Christianity would ultimately undermine their own authority. In response to this resistance, Lavigerie changed the mission strategy to that of top-down evangelization in which the elite were fist converted to Christianity. This new approach was based on the premise that leaders would not fear the possible undermining effects of religion if they themselves were Christians.7 When the White Fathers petitioned the Rwandan court in 1897 for the start of a new mission in Rwanda, the Germans were reluctant to support this. The leaders of the German empire did not trust Catholics since the Catholic states in Germany had resisted German unification of 1871 and the majority of the German nobility was Lutheran.8 However, the German officials soon realized that they needed the help of the White Fathers since they had

6 Timothy Longman, Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010) 38. 7 James Carney, Rwanda Before the Genocide; Catholic Politics and Ethnic Discourse in the late Colonial Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014) 17-20. 8 Noble et al., Western Civilization Beyond Boundaries (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008) 691. 6 wide experience in Africa which the Germans did not have. The Germans hoped that the White Fathers would educate and pacify the Rwandan people because they had difficulty doing this themselves. A White Father, Monseigneur Jean Joseph Hirth (1845-1931), became the head of the first group of missionaries to settle in Rwanda, opening the first mission outpost in Nyundo in 1901.9

The division of race in Rwandan society

The White Fathers had much experience in Africa and had been exposed to many of the leading theories about race and colonization. These theories can be seen as examples of social Darwinism, an ideology popular in the 19th Century in Europe and the USA, which considered that different races of people had different physical characteristics and different levels of intelligence. This ideology was used to justify colonization. One such theories, Hamitic theory, created by the British explorer John Speke (1825-1892), came to have an important influence on colonial approaches to Rwandan society. During 1856-1859, John Speke went to Africa in search of the origins of the river Nile. When he arrived in the Kingdoms of Rwanda and Uganda, he was taken aback by the physical differences of the local inhabitants. In his book ‘Journal of the discovery of the source of the Nile’, he states that he had found ‘strikingly existing proof of the Holy Scriptures’10, referring to the bible scripture of Noah and of his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. According to the anthropological views of the time, Noah’s sons were the fathers of the three tribes of mankind: Shem was father to the Semites, living in the Middle East and Asia; Ham was father of the Hamitic people of North Africa; and Japheth was the father of light-skinned Europeans. According to Speke, Hamitic peoples were also to be found in sub- Saharan Africa where they, apparently, had migrated and had become kings of the local ‘savage’ native tribes. Speke describes his encounter with one of these royal courts: ‘Men who were as unlike as they could be to the common order to the natives of the surrounding districts. They had fine oval faces high noses, denoting the best blood of Abyssinia’.11 Speke called these men Watutsi [Tutsi], arguing that they seemed to possess more intellect than the common people (Hutus) and that they were the natural leaders of their tribes, despite their dark skin and curled hair.

9 Carney, Rwanda before the Genocide, 24-25. 10 John Speke, Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile (London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1863) xvii. 11 Ibid, 203. 7

The mission of the White Fathers in Rwanda consisted of men who mostly had come from the neighbouring Uganda. In Uganda, Hamitic theory was a tenet of British colonial rule. Based on Speke’s assessment of racial difference, some of the Ugandan tribes were determined by the British to be more civilized and more intellectually gifted, and therefore more suited for governmental work. The White Fathers shared this theory with the German colonial administration which also determined that some peoples were more developed than others, coining the ethnic division between Hutu and Tutsi.12 The designations, Hutu and Tutsi, were not a creation of the colonial administration. On the contrary, they had been in existence before the Europeans arrived in Rwanda. However, contrary to the ideas of Speke, the remaining source material of the pre-colonial era seems to suggest that the words of Hutu and Tutsi were not related to tribes or ethnicity and were not fixed identities but were related to differences in livelihood. A Hutu could become a Tutsi and a Tutsi could become a Hutu, there were marriages between the two groups, and there is no evidence that the designation had any link to physical or mental characteristics.13

In Nyundo, the first mission outpost of the White Fathers in Rwanda mainly attracted the socially marginalized, not the elite. The leader of the mission, Mgr. Hirth, found that these poor ‘Hutu’, as he called them, were the perfect candidates for conversion to Christianity because he thought that the Christian Church should ally itself with the poor and the suffering. However, not all the White Fathers agreed with this vision. The second in command, Mgr. Léon Classe (1874-1945), supported a more top down approach to conversion. He feared that the Rwandan leadership would see the Catholic faith as the faith of the poor, not suited for royalty. In addition, a Lutheran mission was founded in 1907 which meant that the Catholic missionaries were worried that they would soon be replaced if the royal court, like the German officials, became protestant. As a result, Mgr. Classe started a campaign to convert the royal court, appealing to the royal family by using Hamitic theory. He told the King and his entourage that they were decedents of the great races of the North and that they were chosen by God to rule over the Hutu population. This led to the conversion of several family members of the king, including one of his uncles. However, the King himself remained with the local religion, choosing neither the Catholicism of the White Fathers nor the Protestantism of the Lutheran Germans.14

12 Longman, Christianity and Genocide, 44. 13 Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis, 5-6. 14 Carney, Rwanda Before the Genocide, 26-29. 8

Belgian Rule By 1914, the Catholic Church in Rwanda was growing steadily but not dramatically, partly held in check by German officials’ unwillingness to countenance a large Catholic mission. However, European politics was to drastically change the balance of power in Rwanda. 15 In 1914, the First World War commenced. In 1916, as an extension of the war in Europe, the Belgian army invaded the German colony of Rwanda, located next to the Belgian Congo. This invasion was later approved by the League of Nations in the settlements after the German capitulation: Rwanda was given to Belgium as part of a compensation deal.16 The arrival of the Belgian rule was advantageous for the mission of the White Fathers because the Belgian elite was predominantly Catholic and supported the power that the White Fathers had achieved in Rwandan society. At the same time, White Fathers’ role was changing. In 1922, the head of the mission, Mgr. Hirth, was replaced by Mgr. Classe. With Classe at its head, the White Fathers started to place more emphasis on conversion of the elite to Christianity and on racial segregation. The King and his entourage were frequently reminded that they were racially superior to other Rwandans because God had wanted this.17 The White Fathers went even further, as Mgr. Classe wrote to the Belgian officials; The greatest mistake this government could make would be to suppress the Mututsi [Tutsi] caste. [..] We have no better, more active, and intelligent chiefs then the Batutsi [Tutsi]. They are the ones best suited to understand progress; they are the ones the population likes best. The government must work mainly with them.18

Mgr. Classe was not necessary pleading in the favour of the old Tutsi notables but, rather, for the new Tutsi elite that had been educated by Catholic missionaries and had been converted to Christianity. The education of a new elite was a focus of the White Fathers, given their monopoly of all secondary education and the majority of primary education. In these missionary schools, a strict policy of racial segregation was maintained. Tutsi and Hutu children were taught separately and had different curricula. Hutu children received an education to prepare them for a life of farming and mining while Tutsi children were educated

15 Carney, Rwanda Before the Genocide, 29. 16 Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis, 25-26. 17 Carney, Rwanda Before the Genocide, 31-32. 18 Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis, 26. 9 for a different future. They received a more rigorous academic training including the chance to go to secondary school to prepare them for life as government officials as part of the Belgium colonial rule. 19 Although the White Fathers and the Belgian officials worked hard to create a new Tutsi elite, some of the old problems still remained. The King had still not converted to Christianity and did not have good relationships with either the White Fathers or the colonial administration. By the beginning of the 1930, Mgr. Classe had given up on the hope that the King would one day convert to Catholicism and the Belgium administration was also growing weary of Musinga’s commitment to his own sovereignty. As Mgr. Classe put it in a report to his superiors: From a political point of view, the situation is becoming more difficult. Our sultan, Musinga, backtracks more and more. Anti-European, anti-Catholic, he confides more and more in sorceress, old regime, very convinced that the hour will sound where he will be able to boot out of his kingdom all the loathed Europeans who impede him to reign as he pleases… Throughout recent times, he has tried to turn to the Adventists, at base he is mistaken in them but they give largely, and through that, he thinks to hit us.20

It was the fear of Musinga’s possible conversion to a church other than the Catholic Church that inspired the White Fathers to ally themselves with the colonial officials, and to take action. One of Musinga’s own sons, Rudahigwa, who had studied in the seminary under the own personal supervision of Mgr. Classe. From the start of the 1930s, the colonial officials and Mgr. Classe secretly groomed Rudahigwa to take his father’s place as king. In November 1931, the colonial administration exiled King Musinga to Lake Kivu, putting Rudahigwa on the throne as King Mutara the IV.21 With the old King removed and a new King on the throne, the level of conversions and baptisms to the Catholic Church exploded. In 1922, the number of baptized Catholics had been about 5000. By 1927, there were 20,000 baptized Catholics. In 1931 at the start of Mutara’s reign, this number had risen to 70,000 Catholics with 17 indigenous priests and 43 mission stations. In 1939, the number of Catholics had climbed to 300,000 approximately 20% of the total Rwandan population. Some 80% of the Tutsi elite had converted to

19 Longman, Christianity and Genocide, 52-53. 20 Ibid, 54. 21 Carney, Rwanda Before the Genocide, 36. 10

Catholicism. Conversion to other Christian religions remained very low the Adventist, Anglican and Protestant churches combined accounted for 6,800 baptized Christians.22 In 1943 the King of Rwanda finally converted to Catholicism and was baptized. In 1946 the than Catholic King Mutara dedicated the kingdom of Rwanda to Christ the king. With this pledge Rwanda became the first official Catholic nation in Africa; Lord Jesus, it is you who have formed our country. You have given us a long line of Kings to govern in your place, even though we did not know you. [..] Now that we know you, we recognize publicly that you are our Lord and our King.23

For Mgr. Classe, the deposition of Musinga meant that the Catholic mission in Rwanda would finally be successful. The mission setup in 1900 had grown from a small church for the poor to a national institution. The White Fathers, and with them the Catholic Church, had positioned themselves into the centre of Rwandan power by the late 1930s. Given that only Catholics could have a career in the governmental administration, Mgr. Classe had successfully built Rwanda into a Catholic nation, minimizing the influence of other Christian religions. Rwandan society paid a high price for the predominant position of the Catholic Church. In order to win the Tutsi elite over to Catholicism, the White Fathers, and in particular Mgr. Classe personally, created rigorous racial separation within Rwandan society. This segregation became more fixed and embedded when the colonial government passed legislation in 1932, ordering all Rwandans to carry identification papers classifying them as Hutu, Tutsi or Twa.24 These identification rules further marginalized the position of the Hutu population.

From the beginning of the Catholic mission in Rwanda there was a debate over how to convert the locale population. From 1914 onward mgr. Classe led the Catholic mission towards a conversion strategy that is based on an ethnical discourse and top down conversion. As seen by the massive conversion of the Tutsi elite in the 1930’s this strategy is very successful, however this conversion is not always done for religious motives, conversion to the Catholic Church also entailed social status. On the other side the conversions of the Tutsi elite and their preferred status by the White Fathers comes at a high price for the Hutu

22 Carney, Rwanda Before the Genocide, 36-37. 23 Ibid, 40. 24 Mahmood Mamdani, When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2001) 87. 11 population in Rwanda. They become socially and economically marginalized with the main problem being that the schooling system and the system of governance is under the leadership of the Catholic mission and only available for the (Catholic) Tutsi elite.

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Chapter 2 The new Rwandan society

The end of the Second World War marked a turning point in Rwandan history as it did for the rest of the world. In order to properly explain the changes in views and behaviour in the churches of Rwanda after the Second World War, one should first look at worldwide events. A new world order was established: Nazism and fascism had been defeated but another totalitarian system was on the rise. This chapter will describe how world events influenced the thinking of the Catholic Church on social matters and how this trend, combined with Rwanda’s drive to independence, changed the relationship between Hutu peoples and the Catholic Church. Furthermore, this chapter explores the bond between the Catholic Church and the post-colonial government.

Rise of communism and anti-colonialism The first major problem of the post war period for the Catholic world was the perception of the rising threat of communism. Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) wrote in a letter to bishops worldwide; This modern revolution, it may be said, has actually broken out or threatens everywhere, and it exceeds in amplitude and violence anything yet experienced in the preceding persecutions launched against the Church. Entire peoples find themselves in danger of falling back into a barbarism worse than that which oppressed the greater part of the world at the coming of the Redeemer. This all too imminent danger, Venerable Brethren, as you have already surmised, is Bolshevistic and atheistic Communism, which aims at upsetting the social order and at undermining the very foundations of Christian civilization.25

With the end of the war in Europe, the Soviet Union had taken over many countries in Eastern European with a majority Catholic population, such as Poland and Czechoslovakia. This problem of communism was not new to the Church. Since the Russian revolution in 1917, the Church had been under threat from communist parties throughout Europe. In Eastern Europe, churches were often closed or even physically destroyed by the new

25 Pope Pius XII, “Divini Redemptoris encyclical of Pope Pius XII on Atheistic Communism” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, accessed September 10, 2015, http://w2.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p- xi_enc_19031937_divini-redemptoris.html. 13 communist regimes. The clergy were severely limited in their daily activities and were sometimes even prosecuted.26 At the same time, African people were inspired by new forms of nationalism and wanted independence from their European colonizers. This created a new problem for the churches as well as for the European powers. The Church and the European countries were concerned that when these countries became independent they would turn to communism. As pope Pius the XII put it; Now that those who hate God are zealously bringing their insidious attacks to bear upon this great continent, so serious difficulties have arisen to hinder the spread of the Gospel in certain districts of Africa. [..] This situation has come about from a number of causes, which are in general the outcome of rather recent historical events, and it has further been influenced to some extent by the conduct of certain nations […]There is every reason, therefore, why we should be subject to no small anxiety with regard to the fortunes of Catholicism in Africa.27

This fear of a new communist bloc in Africa lead the Church and European countries to change their views about colonialism and ethnicity in Africa. Many colonial regimes employed small ethnic elites to handle their affairs in Africa. However, it was believed that these countries would be very vulnerable to communism because the ethnic majority could easily be excluded from participation in government. To compensate for the lack of balance in colonial governments, the colonial powers began to drastically change their ethnic allegiance. Instead of working only with the elites, they began to focus their attention and ambition on the major ethnic groups in the countries under their power.28 These changes were also effecting Rwanda and changed the ethnic balance of power dramatically. In 1948, the United Nations (UN) Charter specified that there was such a thing as a national right for self-determination.29 Encouraged by the UN, the Belgian colonial administration was making plans to establish an independent Rwanda. This plan stipulated, among other things, that there would be democratic reform in Rwanda. This plan heralded the end of the rule of the Tutsi elite. The Tutsis were no longer seen as the people chosen by God

26 Paul Froese, “Forced Secularization in Soviet Russia: Why an Atheistic Monopoly Failed”, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43, no.1 (2004): 35. 27 Pope Pius XII, “Encyclical on the Present Condition of the Catholic Missions, Especially in Africa”, New Advent, April 21, 1957, http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_pi12fd.htm. 28 Pope Pius XII, “Encyclical on the Present Condition of the Catholic Missions”, http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_pi12fd.htm. 29 “UN Charter 1945 Chapter 1”, United Nations, accessed November 20, 2015, https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/CTC/uncharter.pdf. 14 to rule Rwanda. In the future, they would have to campaign and win elections to remain in power. 30

Social reform inside the Churches After the war, the horrors of the Nazi regime were fully exposed. Many clergy were shocked by the Catholic Church’s failure to prevent such horrors. This abhorrence, combined with the rapid rise of communism, made the leadership of the Catholic Church more open to change. The rulers of the Catholic Church were concerned that it should become a more open institution, focused on the spiritual needs of common people. Furthermore, they considered that the Catholic Church should become a guiding force to support governments in helping their own citizens.31 At the same time as this new ideology emerged inside the top levels of the Catholic Church, a new class of priest arose that had a different vision of the Church’s role in local communities. These European priests were also the new young missionaries who had been ordained during the Second World War in Europe, and they came to Africa with new ideas on colonialism, ethnicity and power relations. Combined with the death of Mgr. Classe in 1945, these changes provided opportunities for the Church leaders in Rwanda to develop new strategies and priorities.32 Many of the new missionaries were shocked by the feudalism of Rwanda society and, differing from the missionaries before them, aligned themselves with the Hutu peasantry. These missionaries considered that the first duty of the Church in Rwanda was to promote equality and help the poor and needy. New priests were particularly concerned by the client patron relationship called ubuhake. Under this system of patronage, Hutu peasants were obliged to work a portion of their time on the lands of their Tutsi Lord without pay. In addition, the new missionaries found the leadership of the Catholic Church in Rwanda to be too hierarchal and dominated by old colonial sentiments. The leadership of the Catholic Church considered that in order to prevent communist feelings from emerging under the Hutu majority population, reforms had to be made. The two most important changes in this regard were abolishing the ubuhake system and opening secondary schools to Hutus. The Catholic Church was still convinced that it should continue

30Gérard Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis; History of a Genocide (London: Hurst & Co, 1995) 44-45. 31 Pope Paul VI, “Pastoral constitution on the church in the modern world” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, December 7, 1965, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat- ii_const_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html. 32 Timothy Longman, Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010) 67. 15 to dominate education but it changed its enrolment policy, for the first time allowing Hutus to enrol in secondary schools and higher education. At the same, the emphasis on the racial supremacy of the Tutsi was removed from the curriculum by the new missionaries.33 Rapid changes within the Rwandan Church also created friction, especially at the level of national representation. Increasing numbers of conversions to the Catholic Church eventually translated into increasing numbers of indigenous clergy. By 1951, the 87 members of the indigenous clergy for the first time outnumbered the 85 missionaries priest that were active in Rwanda.34 In June 1952, the first indigenous priest was elected to higher office when Aloys Bigirumwami (1904-1986) was made Bishop of the city of Nyundo. Mgr. Bigirumwami was of mixed ethnic decent, although officially classified as a Tutsi. Mgr. Bigirumwami came from one of the first Rwandan families to convert to Christianity in 1900; Bigirumwami himself was baptised in 1904. In 1921, he entered into the Kabayeri seminary where he was ordained as priest in 1924. After ordination, he served as pastor in several congregations before his arrival in Nyundo. It had been a considered choice to make an indigenous priest Bishop in Nyundo. The appointment demonstrates the divisions within the Church regarding the growing numbers of indigenous clergy. Nyundo was a very small diocese without influence and the appointment of Mgr. Bigirumwami was largely symbolic. In March 1956, the Swiss missionary Mgr. Perraudin (1914-2003) was made Bishop of the much larger diocese of Kabgayi. The appointment of Mgr. Perraudin ushered in a new phase for the Catholic Church, particularly with regard to the balance of power between Hutus and Tutsis. Mgr. Bigirumwami was seen as a mild mannered man whose main goal seemed to be the maintaining of unity within the Catholic Church of Rwanda while Mgr. Perraudin seemed headed for conflict. Mgr. Perraudin was a missionary priest of the order of the White Fathers. He had arrived in Rwanda just after the Second World War. During the war, Mgr. Perraudin had spent most of his time Switzerland where he developed a very strong anti-Nazi sentiment. In 1947, Mgr. Perraudin was sent to Burundi were he began his missionary work. Given Mgr. Perraudin’s prior career as seminary instructor in Switzerland, he was appointed professor to the important Rwandan seminary in Nyakibanda in 1950. In 1951, there was social unrest under the students of the Nyakibanda seminary where emerging African nationalism caused

33 James Carney, Rwanda Before the Genocide; Catholic Politics and Ethnic Discourse in the late Colonial Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014) 50-51. 34 Longman, Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda, 67-68. 16 tensions between students of different nationalities. 35 While at the Nyakibanda seminary, Mgr. Perraudin had several unpleasant encounters with Mgr. Bigirumwami. Bigirumwami was head of a smaller seminary in Nyundo and many of his students eventually wanted to attend the major seminary in Nyakibanda. However, Mgr. Perraudin felt that the students suffered what he called a “psychosis of independence” which according to Mgr. Perraudin had grown since the consecration of Mgr. Bigirumwami.36 In addition to having poor relations with the first indigenous Bishop in Rwanda, Mgr. Perraudin also faced difficulties in maintaining a good relationship with the Mwami Mutara, the King of Rwanda. Mgr. Perraudin saw the Tutsi elite as feudal lords who had been suppressing and exploiting Hutus for centuries. During his time as director of the seminary in Nyakibanda, Mgr. Perraudin significantly increased the number of Hutu students, creating a Hutu elite. Working for the Church became one of the few job opportunities for this new Hutu elite since most governmental work was firmly in control of the Tutsi elite. The Nyakibanda seminary was not the only one that started to enrol Hutu students. This became a general trend as can be seen in Table 1. Astrida College in Butare also began to enrol more Hutus. Table 1: Enrolment of different ethnic groups in Astrida College during 1932-1959 Tutsi pupils Hutu pupils Percentages Hutu 1932 45 9 20% 1945 46 3 6.5% 1954 63 19 30.2% 1959 279 143 51, 3% 37

The rise of a Hutu elite and rising tensions

One of these new Hutu students was Grégoire Kayibanda (1924-1976), together with his other Hutu students he formed part of the new Hutu elite. He had studied under Mgr. Perraudin in Nyakibanda. Later, he became editor of an influential Catholic newspaper Kinyamateka. Kayibanda started to publish articles in the newspaper to spread awareness of the injustices of the Tutsi on the Hutu. Because of his increasing confrontational tone towards the Tutsi, Mgr. Perraudin eventually replaced Kayibanda as editor. However, this did not stop him from

35 Carney, Rwanda before the genocide, 129. 36 Ibid, 64. 37 Renee Lemerchant, Rwanda and Burundi, (New York: Praeger Publishers 1970) 138. 17 publishing.38 In March 1957, Kayibanda, together with another Hutu évolué (Hutu elite) and other clergy, possibly including some White Father missionaries, published the ‘Bahutu manifesto.’ A political manifesto directed against the Tutsi elite demanding more rights for Hutu in public office, property rights and workers’ rights. One of the biggest assets of the Hutu elite was the unconditional support they were starting to receive from the Catholic Church. The Belgium colonial administration was eventually forced to react to the growing Hutu-Tutsi conflict. They became more receptive to the idea that Hutus would be allowed to be part of the government and that, in time, independence could mean that Hutu could rule Rwanda.39 The Tutsi elite was dismayed by the attitudes of the colonial government and the Catholic Church. They did not considered that the Hutu elite representative of the masses who, according to the Tutsi, accepted the current political situation. To make matters worse, the Tutsi King Mwami Mutara died in 1959 in dubious circumstances. Believing that the King had been murdered, several Tutsi chiefs united in a platform called the Rwandan National Union (Union Nationale Rwandaise, UNAR). The goal of this platform was to defend Tutsi political dominance, and it developed an anti-Belgian and pro-monarchist programme. Kayibanda, in turn, created a new Hutu political party, the Party for the Movement for the Hutu Emancipation (Parti du Mouvement pour l’Emancipation Hutu, PARMEHUTU). The UNAR members called PARMEHUTU an orchestration of the Catholic Church and the Belgian colonial government. This statement infuriated Mgr. Perraudin. A confidential letter, written with Mgr. Bigirumwami, was sent to all priest in Rwanda, denouncing UNAR as ultra-nationalist, anti-church and influenced by communism and Islam.40 Against the background of these rising tensions, violence erupted in November 1959.

The Hutu revolution of 1959 In November 1959, the Tutsi UNAR militants assaulted a Hutu sub-chief in the region of Gitarama. In revenge, small groups of Hutu youth began attacking and killing high ranking Tutsis and pillaging Tutsi homes. The violence lasted for two weeks before Belgium paratroopers from Congo were able to restore order. This incident showed the Belgians that social reform was needed at a faster rate than they had envisioned. During this period of

38 Carney, Rwanda before the Genocide, 75-76. 39 Longman, Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda, 70-71. 40 Ibid, 72. 18 violence, called the ‘Jacquerie’41 by the Belgians, 21 Tutsi chiefs and 332 sub-chiefs were murdered, arrested or had to go into exile. The colonial administration filled most of the vacant posts with Hutus. In addition to this great influx of Hutu civil servants, democratic elections for the first council were held in June and July 1960. The party of Kayibanda, PARMEHUTU, managed to obtain 2390 of the 3125 seats while UNAR, on the other hand, only managed to obtain 56. In the year that followed, Belgian and Rwandan leaders could not come to an agreement on national reconciliation during negotiations encouraged by the UN. More violence erupted, some 150 Tutsi were killed between September and November 1961, and about 22,000 people were displaced. On 25 September 1961, legislative elections were held in Rwanda for the first time PARMEHUTU got 78% of the votes and UNAR 17%.42 On 1 July 1962, simultaneous with independence, Kayibanda became the first President of Rwanda. The signs, however, were ominous. Since 1959, many Tutsi had fled Rwanda and lived as refugees in neighbouring Uganda where they formed small groups of armed commandos. The violence in Rwanda continued.

During the Hutu revolution, many things changed for the Catholic Church in Rwanda. As a crucial step, on 10 November 1959, the Vatican declared that Rwanda would no longer be seen as a missionary land. Instead, it would become a true Catholic nation, represented by an archbishop. Mgr. Perraudin was chosen by the Vatican to be the first archbishop of Rwanda. With this decision, the leadership of the Church of Rwanda came directly in the hands of Mgr. Perraudin, for the first time making Mgr. Bigirumwami his official subordinate where previously they had been of the same rank. The violence of the Hutu revolution completely overshadowed this event and placed the Catholic Church in Rwanda in a difficult predicament. The UNAR commandos were seen by many missionary clergy, including by Mgr. Perraudin, as communist infiltrators.43 Many Tutsi clergy felt a kindship with these commandos and they were often directly affected by the anti-Tutsi violence perpetrated by PARMEHUTU militants. This was also the case for Mgr. Bigirumwami who lost several family members in the ensuing violence. The White Fathers, still a very influential order in Rwanda, saw the Hutu revolution as a just rebellion against a repressive minority and backed their own newly created Hutu elite. In a statement to Mgr. Perraudin, the head of the White Father stated that ‘we cannot preach on

41 Ian Linden, Church and Revolution in Rwanda (Manchester: Manchester University Press; 1977) 282. 42 Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis, 53 43 Longman, Christianity And Genocide In Rwanda, 72 19 justice and charity without leading the population into hate and vengeance.’ In other words, the White Fathers sanctioned the anti-Tutsi violence to a certain extent on ground that it was part of a larger social reform. 44 After the independence of Rwanda in 1962, Mgr. Perraudin faced a new problem or actually an old problem with a new face. He needed to establish good ties with the new government in order to secure a safe position for the Catholic Church within Rwanda society. Again, there was a fear that the protestant churches would grow in Rwanda now the Catholic Belgians had withdrawn. To combat the loss of influence that the Catholic Church might have to face, Mgr. Perraudin, like Mgr. Classe before him, opted to develop strong collaboration between the Church and the state of Rwanda in order to protect the church’s institutional interests. However, this collaboration directly undermined the church’s ability to challenge state sanctioned ethnic violence.

Early years of independence The population in the early independence years was growing rapidly, with that the number of new Catholics also growing rapidly. In contrast, the number of indigenous priest was in rapid decline because many of the priest had been prominent Tutsi who fled the country or had been killed in the violence. The violence committed by the Kayibanda regime was still defended by the Catholic Church with Mgr. Perraudin stating, both to the Rwandan population as well as abroad, that the situation was provoked by UNAR.45 The new independent state of Rwanda also faced a growing refugee problem. Many Tutsis were leaving Rwanda because of the violence while many Hutus from Burundi were coming in to the country because of the anti-Hutu violence committed against them by the Tutsi government there. This refugee problem, combined with the lack of foreign investment due to continuous violence in Rwanda, made the economy very fragile. In 1973, the rising tensions in Rwanda again reached a boiling point, partly in response to events in Burundi.46 In 1972, widespread acts of government-sanctioned violence against the Hutu population had broken out in Burundi. Although never formally recognised the violence has been described by some scholars as genocide or acts of genocide.47 Mgr. Perraudin described the violence in Burundi as extermination of the Hutu people and as an act

44 Carney, Rwanda before the Genocide, 133. 45 Ibid, 140-141. 46 Prunier, the Rwanda Crisis, 60-61. 47 Renee Lemarchant, The Burundi Killings of 1972, (online encyclopaedia of mass violence 2008) 2.

20 of genocide by the Burundi government. This violence led to an even greater influx of Hutu refugees in Rwanda which, in turn, sharpened the ethnic divisions there. In the beginning of 1973, this led to expulsion of Tutsis from schools. All over Rwanda, Tutsi students were violently expelled from Catholic schools and seminaries who at the time made up the majority of the schools in Rwanda and were the only form of higher education available. Although the expulsion was certainly not what Mgr. Perraudin wanted, he was unable to stop the violence. When order was eventually restored by Kayibanda, Mgr. Perraudin praised the Kayibanda regime for its ‘moderation and wisdom’ in restoring order. The firm words Mgr. Perraudin had used in Burundi were not applied to the violence of Rwanda.48 In the meantime, many of the Hutu elite were growing impatient with the Kayibanda regime because many of the promises made by Kayibanda at the beginning of the independence were still not realised. When Kayibanda used the 1973 violence as a reason to for prolonging his presidency, the Hutu elite was not in favour and General Juvenal Habyarimana (1937-1994) staged a coup d’état.

The Habyarimana regime In the eyes of the world, the Habyarimana regime was not a regime that had to be feared or avoided. Although his rise to power was not democratic and his power base was founded on a one party system, compared to the other dictators in the region such as Idi Amin in Uganda and Mobutu in the Congo, Habyarimana’s regime did not seem extremely brutal or murderous. The early years of the Habyarimana regime brought much needed peace and stability. Although much of the ethnic violence which marked the Kayibanda regime had dissipated in the early years of Habyarimana reign, Tutsis were excluded from many parts of daily life including politics. President Habyarimana created his own party, the National Revolutionary Movement for Development (Mouvement Révolutionaire National pour le Développement, MRND).49 The relationship between the Catholic Church and the Habyarimana regime was very good from the start. Habyarimana himself was a Catholic and he was quick to recognize the power of the Catholic Church in Rwanda. He was keen to bind the Catholic Church to his political party and his own personal reign. This went further than just inviting high ranking Catholics to his political rallies. Instead, he made them central figures of his party the MRND.

48 Carney, Rwanda before the Genocide, 189. 49 Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis, 76. 21

In 1976, the leadership of the Catholic Church in Rwanda underwent a change at the top. Mgr. Perraudin retired and his position of archbishop was transferred to Vincent Nsengiyumva (1936-1994). Mgr. Nsengiyumva, like President Habyarimana, was a Hutu from the north region of Rwanda. To further the relationship between the President and the Archbishop, the seat of the archbishop was moved from Kabgayi to Kigali. All of the bishops appointed during the Habyarimana regime were Hutu. This was also the case for the successor of Mgr. Bigirumwami who retired in 1984 and was replaced by a relative of President Habyarimana’s wife.50 Although in the early years the regime of Habyarimana had been welcomed by almost all Rwandans, this situation drastically changed from the mid-1980s. The lack of economic growth in Rwanda made it one of the poorest countries in the world. International aid was one of the main pillars of the Rwandan economy but had a tendency to disappear into the bank account of Madame Habyarimana who was known for her shopping sprees in Paris.51 To make matters worse, the world market for coffee beans, Rwanda’s main export product, was rapidly dwindling. This led to even greater poverty in Rwanda and eventually caused famine during 1988 and 1989. These grave conditions fuelled the old Hutu and Tutsi rivalry in Rwanda and neighbouring Uganda where a large group of Tutsi refugees and their descendants were eager to reconquer what they saw as their own land. This group of Tutsi diaspora formed the basis of the Tutsi rebel force, the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF). In the autumn of 1990, the RPF invaded Rwanda from its base in Uganda.52

Rwanda civil war 1990-1994 The eruption of civil war made the situation for Rwandans even more problematic and ethnicity became an important factor in everyday life. As a counter measure to the RPF invasion, many Tutsi were murdered by Hutu militia groups similar to the violence seen against Tutsi during the UNAR period. As in 1959, the Catholic Church found itself again caught between a Tutsi rebel group and the Hutu government. Some individual groups inside the Church spoke out against the increasing violence and discrimination of the Tutsis. However, a large group of Catholic clergy, including the leadership, sided with the regime

50 Longman, Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda, 89. 51 Philip Gourevitch, We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Be Killed With Our Families: Stories From Rwanda, (New York: Picador 1999) 77. 52Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis, 80-81. 22 and labelled the violence provoked by the RPF as ‘aggression’. By refusing to condemn the scapegoating of Tutsi early and by its refusal to denounce the violent attacks against Tutsi that began in 1990, Church leaders allowed ethnic tensions to escalate uninhibited. The silence of the Catholic leadership led many people to believe that it supported the violence and that the violence itself was thus sanctioned by the Church. 53 From 1992, peace negotiations took place between the RPF and the Habyarimana regime in the capital of Tanzania, Arusha. On 3 Augustus 1993, a preliminary peace agreement was signed. However, on 21 October 1993, the Hutu President of Burundi was murdered by Tutsi extremists, this act had grave consequences for Rwanda too. It was the excuse that the Hutu hardliners had been waiting for so that they could argue that the Tutsi could not be trusted in a peace agreement. Habyarimana put the implementations agreed upon in the Arusha peace agreement on hold. This angered the RPF and the international community, and Rwanda President Habyarimana had to explain himself in front of his regional colleagues in Dar-es-Salaam. He flew home with the Burundi President. On 6 April 1994, the airplane in which he was travelling was shot down just outside Kigali airport, killing all on board. The murder of the President marked the beginning of the Rwandan genocide. 54

This chapter shows that the Catholic Church played a vital role in the dramatic changes that Rwanda experienced during 1945-64 in the years leading up to and immediately following Independence. The change from a Tutsi alliance to a Hutu alliance for the church was partly due to social reform in the church itself, as well being influenced by world events. However, the main strand was the Church’s search for power, aligning itself with the ruling elite. During 1959-1963, the Catholic Church grew into a pro-Hutu force. In the decade following independence, the number of Catholic baptized Rwandans more than doubled from 698,000 in 1960 to 1,439,000 in 1970. These new Catholics were mostly Hutu, probably because they found that, like the Tutsis 30 years previously, belonging to the Catholic Church was beneficial to their career.55 However, this alliance with the Hutus and growth in congregation came at a price because the Catholic Church had manoeuvred itself into a position in which criticism of the ruling regime was very difficult to stomach because the Church was too intertwined with Hutu interests and the Hutu elite.

53 Longman, Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda, 154-155. 54 Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis, 211-212. 55 Longman, Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda, 85. 23

Chapter 3 The Genocide and Radicalized priest

The first part of this chapter provides an analysis of some of the actions of indigenous clergy during the genocide of 1994. This analysis will cover the actions of the clergy during the genocide, trying to provide some explanations for their actions. In addition, reactions from the local population are considered. The main focus of this chapter will be on Catholic priests that were indicted and sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). These priest were, at the very least, suspected of participation in the genocide and aiding the Interahamwe (meaning: those who stand together), the youth wing of the MRND which became a brutal militia during the genocide.56 The main cases that will be discussed in this chapter are the cases of Athanase Seromba, Emmanuel Rukundo, Wenceslas Munyeshyaka and Hormisdas Nsengimana. The second part will try to explain why these priests became ethnic nationalists.

The main way in which the Catholic Church became involved in the genocide is by the use of churches by the Interahamwe in their killing campaign. As mentioned previously, during the 100 days of genocide in Rwanda, churches became the death chambers for thousands of people.57 This fact alone does not say anything about the guilt of the Catholic Church but clearly shows that the Church was unable or unwilling to stop the violence in its precincts. After the plane crash of President Habyarimana, the Tutsi population was the target of attacks by the Interahamwe. Many Tutsi went to the churches to seek refuge and protection. In previous outbursts of ethnic violence in 1959 and 1973, churches had occasionally been safe places of refuge. Thus, it was not surprising that the Tutsis sought refuge in them.58 But the 1994 genocide was different from earlier outbursts of ethnic violence. In 1994, violence was more widespread and the goal of the attackers went further than ethnic cleansing alone: The Hutu government wanted kill all Tutsis living in Rwanda. Some Tutsi refugees were brought to the churches by government officials, suggesting that churches were sometimes used as a convenient place to concentrate all victims in one

56Gérard Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis; History of a Genocide (London: Hurst & Co, 1995) 165. 57 Timothy Longman, Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010) 5. 58 Chris McGreal, Chaplains of the militia; The tangled story of the Catholic Church during the Rwanda’s genocide, (London: Guardian Books 2014) 34. 24 location.59 As the Interahamwe did not respect the sanctity of churches, the clergy, and especially local priests, were more confronted with ethnic violence in 1994 than in previous outbursts. This meant that many priests were forced to make decisions about how to act in the midst of this violence. At this point, local priests and other clergy played a pivotal role in the genocide: would they condone the action of the militias or would they try and save refugees, often members of their own parish. Some 200 clergy members died during the genocide, mostly Tutsi priests who did not have the luxury of standing up against the militia because they were marked for death from the beginning of the genocide.60 However, some Hutu clergy tried bravely to defend their Tutsi parishioners, such as Sister Félicitée Niyitegeka who was executed on 21 April 1994 together with 41 people she was trying to protect. Sister Félicitée’s brother was a senior officer in the Rwandan army and the militia gave her the option to leave unharmed but she refused, stating that her place was with her parishioners.61 Unfortunately, few clergy were as resolute as Sister Félicitée; many even took the opposite position, helping the Interahamwe. In the ICTR cases of priests helping the Interahamwe, there seem to be similarities in what they did to support the genocide.

Identification of Tutsi refugees Based on the indictments and the judgements passed by the Rwandan Tribunal, the clergy played an important role in the identification of Tutsis. For example, Father Athanase Seromba, parish priest in Nyange, was accused of making a list of influential Tutsis in the community which he handed over to the militia, ensuring that they would be brought to the church and killed.62 Father Rukundo, an army chaplain, identified Tutsis among the refugees who fled to the Petit Séminaire de Saint Léon and the Grand Séminaire, Kabgayi. He subsequently compiled a list of names which he gave to the Interahamwe.63 The indictment of

59 “ICTR indictment Athanase Seromba, count 3 point 35,” International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015, http://www.unictr.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-01- 66/indictments/en/010705.pdf. 60 James Carney, Rwanda Before the Genocide; Catholic Politics and Ethnic Discourse in the late Colonial Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014) 198. 61 Marie Farrington, “Rwanda-100 Days-1994; One Perspective.” In Genocide in Rwanda; Complicity of the Churches? Ed. by Carol Rittner et al. (St. Paul: Paragon House, 2004), 103. 62 “ICTR indictment Athanase Seromba, count 1 and 2 point 8”, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015, http://www.unictr.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-01-66/indictments/en/010705.pdf. 63 “ICTR indictment Emanuel Rukundo, count 1 and 2 point 11”, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015, http://www.unictr.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-01-70/indictments/en/061006.pdf. 25

Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, a priest in the Ste. Famille parish in Kigali, accuses him of identifying and handing over several Tutsi refugees to the Interahamwe. Father Munyeshyaka, according to the indictment, let the leaders of the militia come into the church and identified Tutsi refugees for them. The Interahamwe would then take these refugees away and execute them.64 In the indictment against Father Hormisdas Nsengimana, there is also mention of identification of Tutsis. Father Nsengimana was rector of Christ-Roi College in Nyanza during the genocide. He was accused of helping to put roadblocks in place around the complex of the college and identifying Tutsi refugees who were stopped. However the indictment against Father Nsengimana has a different status because he was acquitted by Tribunal.65 It is important to note that compiling lists for the militia and selecting Tutsi to be killed was not limited only to the Catholic Church. Other denominations supported the genocide in the same way. For example, the cases against a Seven-day Adventist pastor and an Anglican bishop are similar. Pastor Elizaphan Ntakirutimana was the leader of the Seven- day Adventist church in Ngoma in cooperation with his son, Gerard Ntakirutimana who was a doctor in a hospital in the same complex as the church. The two men separated the Hutu and the Tutsi refugees and held the Tutsi refugees in the church complex until the Interahamwe came and killed them.66 The Anglican Bishop, Samuel Musabyimana, who was in charge of the Shyogwe Diocese ordered his subordinates to compile list of all refugees entering the Diocese and to make sure that they registered their ethnicity. This list was later provided to the leaders of the militia by the subordinates of the bishop who took the militia members to the Tutsi refugees and helped the militia to identify them.67 Widespread use of priests and other clergy seems to suggest that they played a crucial role in identifying Tutsi. Their role can be explained by the role that religion played in Rwandan society. People often went to the church, these were the places that they were baptized, married and buried by the priest or other clergy. On top of that 95% of the Rwandan

64 “ICTR Indictment Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, count 1 point 12,” International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015, http://unictr.unmict.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-05- 87/indictments/en/050720.pdf. 65 “ICTR Verdict Hormisdas Nsengimana, page 74-93”, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015, http://unictr.unmict.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-01-69/trial- judgements/en/091117.pdf. 66 “ICTR Indictment Elizaphan Ntakirutimana, count 4 point 6”, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015, http://unictr.unmict.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-96- 17/indictments/en/001020.pdf. 67 “ICTR Indictment Samuel Musabyimana, count 1 point 10,” International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015, http://unictr.unmict.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-01- 62/indictments/en/010221.pdf. 26

Catholics went to church at least once a week to attend Holy Mass which was the highest attendance worldwide.68 The priests were therefore intimately familiar with their communities and were very knowledgeable about family relations and ethnicity. From the court cases, it is evident that identification of Tutsi refugees by Rwandan priests was essential to the work of the militias because other means of identification were limited. The identity cards that every Rwandan had stating their ethnicity could easily be disposed of.

Dehumanization of Tutsi refugees

Tutsi refugees were dehumanized by local priests by constant racial naming. All of the ICTR cases make clear that priests used the word Inyenzi (cockroaches) when referring to the Tutsi. This word was popular slang aimed at insulting Tutsis and was in use by Hutu extremists before the genocide. This word clearly represents the deep feeling of hatred the Hutu extremist felt for the Tutsi: they were seen as a pest and a nuisance that needed to be exterminated. The case of Father Athanase Seromba provides most evidence of the dehumanization of Tutsi. Dehumanization by Father Athanase started on 13 April 1994. At this time, there were approximately 2000 refugees inside the church. The conditions inside the church were dismal and there was a severe shortage of food. Some attempted to pick bananas at the parish groves. Father Athanase then tells the militia that they should shoot Inyenzi picking bananas. According to some of the witness, from this point on he started treating the refugees as Inyenzi.69 On 14 April, the refugees inside the church realised that their situation had become very precarious and that they were likely to be killed. As a result, they asked Father Athanase to celebrate mass with them. Father Athanase responded that he would not waste time celebrating mass with Inyenzi.70 In the case of Father Rukundo, racial slurs also played an important role. On multiple occasions, Father Rukundo bragged about killing Inyenzi. The first time this is mentioned is in relation to the murder of a prominent Tutsi Rudahunga family. Father Rukundo boasted: ‘We

68 “International mass attendance,” accessed at October 19, 2015, http://cara.georgetown.edu/CARAServices/intmassattendance.html. 69 “ICTR indictment Athanase Seromba, count 3 point 42,” International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015, http://www.unictr.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-01- 66/indictments/en/010705.pdf. 70 “ICTR indictment Athanase Seromba, count 1 and 2 point 12,” International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015,http://www.unictr.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-01- 66/indictments/en/010705.pdf. 27 entered the Inyenzi house and killed his children.’71 Furthermore, he made several statements against his Tutsi colleagues in the seminary of Kabgayi, arguing that they were Inyenzi and the enemy of the Hutu people. Following these statements, Tutsi priests felt so threatened that they subsequently went into hiding.72 Father Munyeshyaka had also used racial slurs, the most notable was against his own Tutsi mother. According to one journalist, Father Munyeshyaka referred to his mother as ‘his cockroach’ when he mentioned he had to drop her off at the Milles Colinnes hotel to get her to safety.73 It is unknown how many more interracial marriages there were in Rwanda at the time of the genocide and would have found themselves in the same position as Father Munyeshyaka. But it is clear that there were a significant number of interracial marriages, especially between Tutsi women and Hutu men. However there was never a separate category for children born from such a marriage, the wife takes on the identity of the husband so in the case of Father Munyeshyaka he was regarded as a Hutu. 74 The problem of interracial marriage was such an issue in Rwanda that in the ‘Hutu ten commandments’, an anti-Tutsi propaganda pamphlet published just as the war started in December 1990, made their first three commandments statements against race mixing. The first commandment explicitly forbade Hutu men to marry or befriend Tutsi women. 75 It is very plausible that the children of mix heritages during the genocide felt they had to radically denounce their Tutsi parent, as Father Munyeshyaka did, out of fear for their own safety. Furthermore the indictment against Father Munyeshyaka states that he referred to the Tutsi refugees as Inyenzi when talking to the Interahamwe implying that they were enemies of the state.76 When Father Munyeshyaka fled to the Congo in July 1994, he defended his action of handing over Tutsi refugees to the Interahamwe stating that they were Inyenzi and needed to be exterminated. 77

71 “ICTR verdict Emanuel Rukundo, page 169,” International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015, http://unictr.unmict.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-01-70/trial- judgements/en/090227.pdf. 72 “ICTR indictment Emanuel Rukundo, count 1 point 5,” International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015, http://www.unictr.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-01- 70/indictments/en/061006.pdf. 73 McGreal, Chaplains of the militia, 42. 74Mahmood Mamdani, When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2001) 66. 75 Hugh McCullum, The Angels Have Left Us; The Rwandan Tragedy and The Churches (Geneva: WCC Publications, 2007) 128. 76 “ICTR Indictment Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, count 1 point 8,” International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015, http://unictr.unmict.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-05- 87/indictments/en/050720.pdf. 77 “ICTR Indictment Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, count 1 point 11,” International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015, http://unictr.unmict.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-05- 87/indictments/en/050720.pdf. 28

These examples show that the use of racial slurs by priests was partly done to intimidate the refugees. In the cases of Fathers Seromba and Rukundo, this practice is the most evident. Father Rukundo used the word Inyenzi to intimidate his colleagues in Kabgayi while Seromba used it to show his disdain for the refugees in his church. With this word, the priests make clear that the lives of the Tutsi refugees do not matter in their eyes, making it possible for the refugees and the Interahamwe to reach the conclusion that their lives do not matter in the eyes of the Church.

Condoning and inciting violence against the Tutsi

A further common factor in the cases of the priests is that they all condoned violence against the Tutsis. The priests identified the Tutsi, showed racial distain for them and condoned the slaughters. This was influential in contributing to the mind-set of the killers and the feeling of abandonment among the victims because priests played a vital role in Rwandan society, holding a position of authority. When priests condoned violence, this had far reaching consequences. For example, Father Seromba’s attitude resulted in the murder of approximately 2000 refugees. On 15 April, Tutsi refugees were trapped inside the church of Nyange and had barracked themselves in. To destroy them, a bulldozer was ordered from a nearby town. This bulldozer arrived on 16 April but the driver was reluctant to destroy the church but Father Seromba persuaded him:

[..] He spoke to him saying, ‘Really, father, do you accept that 1 should destroy this Church?' 1 saw Father Athanase Seromba nod. The driver spoke to him again, to Father Seromba. And then for a third time, ‘Father, do you accept that I should destroy this church’, and Father Seromba answered in these words, ‘Unless you, yourselves, are Inyenzi, destroy it. All we want is to get rid of the Inyenzi. As for the rest of it, we the Hutus are many. If we get rid of the Inyenzi, we will build another church. We will build a new church. 78

78 “ICTR Verdict Athanase Seromba, page 60,” International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015, http://unictr.unmict.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-01-66/trial- judgements/en/061213.pdf 29

Father Seromba then identified the weakest wall in the structure of the church so that the bulldozer could be most effective. The bulldozer was then used to destroy the church, killing approximately 2000 people.79 Father Rukundo also used his position of authority to incite people to kill. During 12-15 April, he instigated, aided and abetted the killing of serval Tutsi refugees at St Joseph’s College in Kabgayi. He also incited violence amongst Hutu civilians at several other locations, such as the Petit Séminaire de Saint Léon and the Grand Séminaire, Kabgayi. 80 Given priests’ stature and power in the Rwandan society, their words had a deep impact on what people did and how they justified their actions, this is clearly shown in the conversation between Father Seromba and the bulldozer driver who was, at first, very reluctant to destroy the church and kill the refugees but was persuaded to do so by Father Seromba. It is reasonable to assume that the words of the radicalized priest not only provided incentives but were also a source of moral support for the killers.

The seminaries in Rwanda After explaining how these priests were involved in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, their motivation is still unclear. Why would these men, who had devoted their lives to God and the Catholic Church, act in a way that was very clearly against Christian teaching? One might argue that this question is irrelevant since these priest made up so few of the population and the crimes committed in Rwanda were perpetrated by so many. However, many clergy have been charged and taken to trial in connection with the 1994 genocide. This leads to the conclusion that their might have been a structural problem in the Rwandan Catholic Church which made the priest and other clergy in Rwanda more prone to radicalisation. Looking at the files of the indicted Catholic priests, there seem to be some similarities. Father Emmanuel Rukundo, Father Athanase Seromba and Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka were all ordained between the years 1991-1993. In this period, the country was very ethnically divided: civil war had broken out in the north and Hutu and Tutsi distrust was growing rapidly with many Hutu elite fearing a Tutsi invasion.81 The other interesting fact is

79 “ICTR Verdict Athanase Seromba, page 75,” International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015, http://unictr.unmict.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-01-66/trial- judgements/en/061213.pdf 80 “ICTR Verdict Emmanuel Rukundo, page 178-179,” International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed at October 20, 2015, http://unictr.unmict.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-01-70/trial- judgements/en/090227.pdf 81 Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis, 108. 30 that they all attended the Nyakibanda seminary where Mgr. Perraudin had been rector for many years. In the previous chapter, it was noted that Mgr. Perraudin was a supporter of the social reforms that led to the Hutu revolution. Under his tutelage, the number of Hutu students at Nyakibanda seminary grew rapidly.82 With the increased number of Hutu students, ethnic tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi students in Nyakibanda were thought to have grown exponentially. In the years following the Hutu revolution, tensions grew in the Nyakibanda major seminary. The White Fathers, still present in the seminaries as teachers and staff, also started to radicalize. After Mgr. Perraudin was appointed bishop of Kabgayi, his position as rector of Nyakibanda was taken over by his right hand man, Father Baers. Father Baers was a strong believer in Hutu ethnic nationalism and was more radical in his approach to achieve this than Perraudin. In 1961, the tensions between Hutu and Tutsi students reached a boiling point. Father Baers called for a temporary closing of the Nyakibanda seminary to ‘bring about important purifications in the ranks of Tutsi students.’ 83 After the reopening of Nyakibanda, there was, according to the White Fathers, a more favourable balance between Hutu and Tutsi students. However, this did not end the ethnic tensions between the Hutu and the Tutsi students in Nyakibanda, instead it intensified them. As Mgr. Bigirumwami put in a letter towards Mgr. Bears; You [Baers] and your [White Father] brothers make much evil in mistreating the young men that God has confided to you . . . Why should your Hutu and Tutsi seminarians regard themselves as dogs before a bone? Why have you not built unity between Hutu and Tutsi? Why do you not have peace in your seminary?’ 84

As mentioned in Chapter 2, Rwanda had experienced a revival in ethnic violence in 1973. At this time, the violence was aimed mainly against the Tutsi elite, particularly Tutsi students and teachers. This was also the case for the Kabgayi seminary were Mgr. Perraudin was confronted with groups of nationalised Hutu who wanted to purify the seminary. As a result, expulsions started in Catholic schools in Byimana, Save and Nyamasheke, gradually spreading across Rwanda including to Nyakibanda. The Church under the leadership of Mgr. Perraudin did respond to the violence by stating that they understood the Hutu’s frustration

82 Carney, Rwanda before the Genocide, 150. 83 Ibid, 154. 84 James Carney, “Far from having unity, we are tending towards total disunity’: The Catholic Major Seminary in Rwanda, 1950–62” Studies in World Christianity 18, no. 1 (2012): 94. 31 with the current social equilibrium but that violence was not the solution to their problems.85 However, this did not halt the shift that had taken place inside the seminaries after 1973; with expulsion of most of the Tutsi elite, there was more opportunity for radicalization. Although some Tutsi students returned to the seminaries and schools during the peaceful years of the Habyarimana regime, their number never returned to what it had been before 1973. 86 The influence of the 1973 school expulsions on priests in the genocide is illustrated by the case of Father Emmanuel Rukundo. Father Rukundo was known to be an anti-Tutsi extremist who bragged about the fact that he had fought against the Tutsis in the 1973 school expulsions while he was a student at the Petit Séminaire of Kabgayi.87 In 1990, he entered the Nyakibanda major seminary where he and other extremist students collected money for the war effort against the RPF.88 Furthermore, he stated that he hated his Tutsi colleagues, fellow priests who were also attending the Nyakibanda seminary, and that it was difficult for him to live in Nyakibanda as a Hutu since this place had once been a bastion of the Tutsi elite and therefore somehow tainted. 89 The case of Father Rukundo shows that it was possible for seminary students to be learning Christian doctrine and to radicalize ethnically at the same time.

In conclusion, local priest played an important role in the genocide by identifying Tutsi parishioners and revealing their identity to local government officials or the Interahamwe. Based on the knowledge local priest had about their parishioners and the central role the church played in the Rwandan society before the genocide, the priests’ assistance to the Interahamwe and local government officials was pivotal in the process of the genocide. The dehumanization of Tutsi refugees and the condoning of violence provided an atmosphere in which other Hutus were persuaded to join or at least not care about the faith of the Tutsis. This can be seen quite clearly in the case Father Athanase Seromba. Without his direct intervention and guidance, the bulldozer driver would have made a different choice or at least

85 Carney, Rwanda before the Genocide, 190-191. 86 Elisabeth King, From Classroom to Conflict in Rwanda, (New York: Cambridge University Press 2014) 90. 87 “ICTR indictment Emanuel Rukundo, count 1 point 2,” International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed October 20, 2015, http://www.unictr.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-01- 70/indictments/en/061006.pdf. 88 “ICTR indictment Emanuel Rukundo, count 1 point 3,” International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed October 20, 2015, http://www.unictr.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-01- 70/indictments/en/061006.pdf. 89 “ICTR indictment Emanuel Rukundo, count 1 point 4,” International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed October 20, 2015, http://www.unictr.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-01- 70/indictments/en/061006.pdf. 32 would not have thought he was doing God’s work by killing 2000 people. During the genocide, some priests used their societal power and influence to further the work of the genocidal government which had grave consequences for their Tutsi parishioners. In terms of motivations, it is difficult to understand why priests acted this way. It is evident from the testimonies that the education of Rwandan priests left a lot to be desired when it came to the subject of brotherly love. Under the guise of social reforms that took place in 1959, the seminaries become more focused on preaching Hutu nationalism than unity or respect for those of different ethnicity. This eventually resulted in students, such as Father Rukundo, who demonstrated abhorrence of the Tutsi population during their training but were never reprimanded for these opinions by teachers or seminary staff.

33

Chapter 4

The Rwandan regime and the Catholic bishops

Chapter 3 considered the role of individual priests in the genocide, demonstrating their widespread involvement. Higher level clergy in the Rwandan Catholic church, such as the bishops and the Archbishop, also played an important role in the genocide of 1994. They formed the link between the local clergy and the government. These bishops represented the influential voice of the Catholic religion in Rwanda which could speak directly to the government. In 1994 there were eight dioceses in Rwanda those of; Butare, Byumba, Cyangugu, Gikongoro, Kabgayi, Kibungo, Nyundo, and Ruhengeri. Next to these dioceses there was also the Archdiocese in Kigali. Each of the diocese had one bishop and they all had to answer to the archbishop who was located in Kigali. This chapter describes and explains the bishops’ actions and inactions during the genocide in 1994 and why the bishops despite the influence and power they had in the Rwandan society were not able or unwilling to stop the genocide.

The Habyarimana regime and the Catholic elite Chapters 1 and 2 chart the Catholic Church’s pragmatic efforts to ally itself with the major sources of power in Rwanda in order to protect the Church’s influence and prestige. These efforts continued into the 1970s. In 1973, when Habyarimana had overthrown the Kayibanda regime, the Archbishop of Rwanda Mgr. Perraudin commended him for being a “Christian and an apostle, a disciple of the prince of peace.” Mgr. Perraudin ignored the violence the country had endured in 1973, considering that the partnership between the government of Rwanda and the Catholic Church was in the common interest.90 In 1974, a year after the coup d’état, the influential Tutsi bishop, Mgr. Bigirumwami, resigned his commission as bishop of Nyundo and was succeeded by Mgr. Vincent Nsengiyumva, a Hutu from the north of Rwanda like President Habyarimana. After serving as bishop of Nyundo for two years, Mgr. Vincent Nsengiyumva became the successor of Mgr. Perraudin when the Vatican appointed him Archbishop of Rwanda.91 As Archbishop, Mgr. Nsengiyumva developed a close relationship with President Habyarimana and his wife,

90 James Carney, Rwanda Before the Genocide; Catholic Politics and Ethnic Discourse in the late Colonial Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014) 192. 91 Timothy Longman, Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010) 89. 34

Agathé, and other influential political Hutu leaders from the north of Rwanda. He was also Agathé Habyarimana’s personal confessor. Agathé Habyarimana and the Archbishop furthermore worked together in the effort to get the Virgin Mary apparitions in Kibeho recognised officially by the Vatican. In 1982 schoolgirls in the area of Kibeho saw the Virgin Mary on a hill top on their way to school, in the years following Mary made multiple apparitions seen by different girls in the same area. Mgr. Vincent Nsengiyumva and Madam Habyarimana both visited the hill top were the Virgin first appeared and eventually succeeded in getting official recognition from the Vatican for the apparitions making it an official place for pilgrimage.92 Mgr. Vincent Nsengiyumva became a member of the political party of President Habyarimana, the MDRN, and served as chairman of the Central Committee. The elite of the Catholic Church also had other links with the Habyarimana regime, demonstrated by the appointment of Mgr. Joseph Ruzindana, a relative of Agathé Habyarimana, as bishop of Byumba.93 Under the leadership of Mgr. Vincent Nsengiyumva, the ethnicities of the bishops became an important issue. The majority of the clergy were Tutsi but the leadership of the Church was practically all Hutu. During 1962-1994, no Tutsi bishops were appointed. These ethnic policies led to tensions between the Vatican and Mgr. Nsengiyumva. In 1988, a Tutsi priest, Felicien Muvara, was appointed bishop by the Vatican but he withdrew his candidature for ‘personal reasons’. In reality, Mgr. Vincent Nsengiyumva asked Father Muvara not to accept the appointment because President Habyarimana had made it clear to the Archbishop that he did not want another Tutsi bishop.94 At that time, of the nine bishops in Rwanda (including the archbishop) only one was Tutsi. This was Mgr. Jean-Baptiste Gahamanyi in the diocese of Butare who had been appointed just before the independence in 1961.95 These incidents led the Vatican to take the decision that it was inappropriate for the Archbishop to be so closely linked to the President. On the eve of the visit of Pope John Paul II on 7-9 September 1990, Mgr. Vincent Nsengiyumva resigned his position as chairman of the Central Committee of the MRDN under pressure from the Vatican.96 During his visit, the Pope did not mention the rising tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi population, which had been increasing since the economic downturn of Rwanda. The closest the Pope came to

92 Philip Gourevitch, We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Be Killed With Our Families: Stories From Rwanda, (New York: Picador 1999) 79. 93 Carney, Rwanda before the Genocide, 198. 94 Longman, Christianity and Genocide, 95-96. 95 Carney, Rwanda before the Genocide, 215. 96 Longman, Christianity and Genocide, 133. 35 mentioning the problem was in the speech to the diplomatic mission of Rwanda on his arrival on 7 September 1990, with the President and the archbishop in the audience:

It is true that this country has experienced great turmoil over the last decades and its development has come up against the compounded difficulties of the economic situation and natural conditions. […]I am thinking of the problems that still exist as a consequence of the displacement of populations as a result of painful conflicts over the last few decades. It is my fervent wish that, through open and honest dialogue, the old wounds may be healed and a just solution may be found to a problem whose complexity is well known to all. And I am truly hopeful that help for Rwanda from friendly countries will be forthcoming, above all to facilitate the sheltering and settlement of persons who still have not found a stable situation in circumstances where they may have the means to live in peace.97

The speech highlights the major problems facing Rwanda. Although the Pope covered the societal problems facing Rwanda he does not mention them in great detail. For instance he did not use the words Hutu and Tutsi in his speech, instead making general references to the refugee problems, painful conflicts in the past and his wish for the peaceful resolution of these problems. The Pope’s visit did not diffuse the rising tension in Rwanda. On the contrary, it gave legitimacy to the Habyarimana regime and the elite clergy of the Catholic Church.98

The beginning of the civil war of October 1990 The Pope’s wish for peaceful resolution was not granted. One month after his visit, the civil war started in October 1990. The Tutsi RPF invaded Rwanda from Uganda where they had been living in exile for many years. The fighting ended with a ceasefire agreement in Arusha, Tanzania, which would provide the bases for a new multiparty, democratic system. The bishops reacted in different ways to the popular democratic sentiment. On the one hand, they generally had positive sentiments towards the principal of a democratic republic. On the other, Church leaders feared for their privileged positions. Many Church leaders made little effort to

97 Pope John Paul II, “Address of His Holiness John Paul II to the Heads of Mission and Diplomatic Personnel Accredited to the Government of Rwanda,” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, September 7, 1990, w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1990/september/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19900907_corpo- dipl-kigali.html 98 Longman, Christianity and Genocide, 147. 36 hide their own dislike of the Tutsi rebels and the ties to the Habyarimana regime remained.99 In a time of rising ethnic tensions, many Catholics interpreted the silence of the church leadership as a sign of agreement with the status quo and the current political system.100 The silence from senior clergy further legitimized the Habyarimana but also left the door open for further radicalisation in God’s name. In December 1990 the magazine Kangura, owned by Hassan Ngeze, published the Hutu Ten Commandments in which Ngeze stipulated how Hutu’s should interact with Tutsi. This document is seen as representing a clear case of anti- Tutsi propaganda because of its direct references to the Ten Commandments which form the basis for religious morality. In January 1992, the following poem was published in Kangura:

Lord, forgive me That I am borrowing your image It is not for lack of respect [..] When I go abroad And I return to the fold I will therein find well defined unity This unity we are so afraid of This unity we abhor in all ways Which suggests the use of the machete […] Unity which rejects the crown of thorns And limits itself to the altar Unity which rejects the sweat of the crucifix And confines itself to the sacristy Which flees the masses and hides in the backyard This unity of the miracle! Who so ever will support it? Whoever he may be Wherever he may be

99 Longman, Christianity and Genocide, 147. 100Gérard Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis; History of a Genocide (London: Hurst & Co, 1995) 132. 37

Shall be the enemy of God (Imana)101

This prayer-like poem was written as a protest against the Arusha agreements and against more political unity in Rwanda. The bishops and Archbishop did not refute either the Ten Commandments or the poem, despite the fact that would probably have known about them since Kangura was well known to the elite. Although Kangura was a popular magazine under the Hutu elite in Rwanda it was not most suitable propaganda tool for the whole of the Rwandan population because of the high illiteracy. To combat this problem, extremist Hutu movements turned to another media format, radio. Most of the rural population in Rwanda owned and listened to the radio. In 1993, a new radio station came on air, RTLM (Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines). This radio station was founded by Ferdinand Nahimana, a historian who considered that president Habyarimana was betraying the Hutus by negotiating with the Tutsi rebels.102 One of the reasons the radio station became popular was because of the music they played. Many of the song that aired on the radio station were written by Simon Bikindi a popular pop-artist at the time and a firm believer of Hutu power. In one of his songs, Nanga Abahutu (I Hate These Hutu), Bikindi swears by God that he hates Hutus who do not defend the great Hutu nation and that their punishment should be death; I hate these Hutus Who deny their identity To be Hutu, Abahozi I hate these Hutus Who despise each other, Claiming that they are better than others. And who do not share food and drink with other Hutus, dear comrades. Mbiwirabumva! I swear to God! I swear that I awaken God and victory, dear comrades! I swear that I awaken the hero Rwakizima 103

101 Dr. François Ben Dedale “The Unity of the Holy Trinity Does Not Work in This World!” The Rwanda File, Kangura no. 30, January 1990, accessed 17 January, 2016, http://www.rwandafile.com/Kangura/k30s.html. 102 Alisson Des Forges, “Call to Genocide: Radio in Rwanda, 1994” in The Media And The Rwandan Genocide, ed. Allan Thompson (London: Pluto Press 2007) 42, 44. 103 “Songs by Simon Bikindi,” The Rwanda File, accessed 18 January, 2016, http://www.rwandafile.com/other/bikindisongs.html. 38

Not only did the RTLM radio provided the Hutu extremist with moral support during the genocide but also with tactical information on where and who to kill. It also created an atmosphere of constant fear throughout the genocide fabricating RPF attacks and atrocities. In many ways the radio was the way in which many Hutu extremists were enticed to commit genocide in 1994, using the word ‘work’ as an euphemism for killing. This ‘work’ which was propagated by the radio was also tied to virtues espoused by the Catholic Church 104 There are cases known were priest were giving communion to the génocidaires to strengthen them before commencing this ‘work’.105

In addition to dissatisfaction among Hutu extremists, peace negotiations with the RPF were also not welcomed within parts of President Habyarimana’s entourage. Hutu leaders claimed that the President was committing treason, while other parts of his entourage, especially his wife Agathé, feared for their positions and for their own wealth. This group, called the Le clan Madame and comprising of family members of Agathé Habyarimana, represented an important power-base for the President and had made themselves rich in the process, including by misappropriating international aid.106 It was to this group that Archbishop, Mgr. Vincent Nsengiyumva, had attached himself. One Catholic bishop, with fewer links to the regime, did speak out against the regime’s role and ethnic hatred. In December 1991, Mgr. Thadée Nsengiyumva published a letter titled “Convert us to live together in peace” (Convertissons-nous pour vivre ensemble dans la paix). In this letter, the bishop accused the Catholic Church and the government of Rwanda of falling to respond to the problems facing the country, such as ethnic and regional conflict, corruption and social injustice. Apart from this, the Catholic Church did not utter any criticism of the trend of events which would spark the genocide.107

The genocide of 1994 When the airplane of President Habyarimana was shot down on 6 April 1994, a new government and president were needed. The Prime Minister, Agathé Uwilingiyimana, was the next in line to take over the presidency, according to the constitution of Rwanda. She was a

104 Darryl li, “Echoes of Violence: Considerations on Radio and Genocide in Rwanda”, in The Media And The Rwandan Genocide, ed. Allan Thompson (London: Pluto Press 2007) 96. 105James Carney, “A Generation After Genocide: Catholic Reconciliation in Rwanda”, in Theological Studies 76, no. 4 (2015): 800. 106 Gourevitch, We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Be Killed With Our Families, 77. 107 Longman, Christianity and Genocide, 153-154 39 moderate Hutu and had become prime minster after a power-sharing deal with President Habyarimana in 1993. Before that time, Uwilingiyimana had been the head of one of the opposition parties, the MDR (Mouvement Démocratique Rwandais). The MDR was first formed in the Kayibanda years but was later outlawed by Habyarimana after the coup of 1973. The new MDR, which had re-established itself in 1990, had a slightly more moderate tone in public debate than the MDRN. Given these slightly more moderate views, the prime minister was perceived as a threat to the hardliners in the regime of Habyarimana but also to the Rwandan army which, together with the hard-line politicians and members of clan Madame, formed the Akazu (the little house) group which was responsible for propagandizing the ideology of the genocide. Members of Akazu ordered the first murders among influential members of the Rwandan society who might have been able to oppose the genocide. One of the first victims, Uwilingiyimana was tortured and murdered on 7 April by members of the Rwandan army. The Belgian soldiers of the UNAMIR peacekeeping force, assigned to protect her, were also murdered. After the murder of the prime minster, the hardliners took charge. A new government was assembled and Théodore Sindikubwabo, former Speaker of the Assembly, was made president.108 In the first confusing days following 6 April, the Akazu also ordered the attacks against churches, killing both Tutsi priest and Hutu priests with more liberal views. In total about 200 clergymen were murdered during the 1994 genocide, the majority of which were Tutsi. This was about half of the total clergy in Rwanda. One of the first churches to be attacked on 7 April was the Centre Christus, a Jesuit retreat centre which aimed to seek reconciliation. Around 7 a.m., a group of 6 soldiers entered the building, killing all clergy as well as the participants of a spiritual retreat.109 Despite the killings of the clergy and civilians on Church grounds, Archbishop Vincent Nsengiyumva continued to cooperate with the regime of President Sindikubwabo. On 9 April, Mgr. Vincent offered an official statement in which he declared his support for the new government and asked all Rwandans to ‘respond favourably’ to calls from the new government for the return of peace and security.110 After this statement, the bishops and the Archbishop remained silent. Hutu extremists used the Archbishop’s support of the new regime to argue that divine will was on their side. On 12 April, RTLM radio broadcast the following statement:

108 Prunier, The Rwandan Crisis, 230-232 109 Longman, Christianity and Genocide, 189 110Alison Des Forges, Leave none to tell the story; Genocide in Rwanda (New York: Human Rights Watch 1999) 355. 40

The Rwandan God is on our side, he is not far away and I believe he will continue to help us in our misfortune, our serious misfortune which has no parallel in the world. How can a minority, a small group of people, assemble bandits to chase the authorities elected by the majority of the population out of power? That has never happened anywhere and I hope such will never happen to the Rwandans. The God of the Rwandans will save us from this.111

In the following days, the genocide started in earnest. During 10-19 April, most of the prefectures in Rwanda had seen the extermination of part of their Tutsi population, with exception of Butare Prefecture. In Butare, violence erupted after 19 April.112 When the genocide was well underway in the second week of April, the government of Rwanda left Kigali because of RPF advances. At this juncture, the Archbishop and other bishops relocated with them. This was seen by the Rwandan population as further confirmation that the Church was on the side of the new government and of the genocide. From their new location in Kabgayi, the Rwandan bishops released a second statement on 17 April in which they called for an end to the violence in general terms. However, the statement failed to address the nature of the violence, leaving the way open for Hutu hardliners to blame the RPF for causing the bloodshed.113 The bishops’ statement, therefore, did not have the effect of reducing the killings or discouraging the clergy from being involved in genocide, demonstrated by the cases of Sisters Gertrude Mukangango and Maria Kisito, two Benedictine nuns from Sovu. These nuns participated in the murder of 6000 Tutsi refugees in their convent on 6 May. Sister Gertrude was convicted of conspiring with the village major to plan an Interahamwe attack on refugees hiding in the convent, while Sister Maria provided the petrol which the Interahamwe used to burn to death 500 Tutsi refugees hiding in the convent garage.114 On the radio, broadcasts glorifying the murders of the Tutsis as God’s will also continued.

111 RTLM Radio, “Kantano Habimana 12 April 1994 tape 004,” The Rwanda File, accessed 17 January, 2016, http://www.rwandafile.com/rtlm/rtlm0004.html. 112 Scott Strauss, The Order of Genocide: Race, Power, and War in Rwanda (New York: Cornell University Press 2006) table 2.1 249-255. 113 Longman, Christianity and Genocide, 191 114 Andrew Osborne “Belgium puts nuns in dock for Rwanda genocide” Guardian, 17 April 2001, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/apr/17/warcrimes. 41

During the genocide Kannon Habana wrote and broadcast the following song, praising the killings: Friends, let us rejoice… The Inkotanyi have all perished… Friends, let us rejoice… God is fair…115

The participation of the Archbishop in the genocide went further than only failing to speak out against the violence. He also played an active role in helping the Interahamwe to find Tutsi and Hutu opponents. After leaving Kigali, the Archbishop was located at the catholic centre in Kabgayi where approximately 31000 refugees were also gathered. During his time in Kabgayi, the Archbishop was given a list by the militia containing names of people suspected of being members of the Tutsi elite or of being Hutu moderates. The Archbishop allowed the militia to search the centre several times, looking for the people on the list. In one case, the militia took away a Hutu nun, known locally for her work with orphans, including Tutsi children. She was found battered to death in the vicinity of the centre on the following day. In total, it is estimated that about 1500 Tutsi were taken from the Catholic centre of Kabgayi to be killed by the militia and government forces.116 However, the participation of the Archbishop in the genocide would never be taken to court. At the beginning of June, the RPF army advanced to Kabgayi. On 2 June, they arrested the Archbishop and other clergy, including Mgr. Thadée Nsengiyumva and Mgr. Joseph Ruzindana, the latter being a family member of Agathé Habyarimana. The clergy were moved to Byimana to be executed by RPF soldiers several days later. The official statement provided by the RPF is that the clergy were executed because they had been involved in the deaths of the soldiers’ family members. However, there is still considerable doubt regarding the RPF’s account of the executions.117 On 9 June, Pope John Paul II released an official statement on the death of the Archbishop in which he stated that he was; “Deeply shocked by the news reaching me from your country, I join you in mourning after the cruel death of Archbishop Vincent Nsengiyumva,” imploring “all Rwandans,

115 RTLM Radio, “Kantano Habimana 20 June 1994 tape 0035,” The Rwanda File, accessed 17 January, 2016, http://www.rwandafile.com/rtlm/rtlm0035.html. 116 Des Forges, Leave none to tell the story, 359. 117 Ibid, 1089. 42

and the leaders of nations that can help them, to do everything to open paths for peace and rebuilding the country so badly bruised.”118

The Archbishop and the other bishops did nothing to stop the violence and, certainly in the case of the archbishop even cooperated with the génocidaires, probably because of their close relationship with the Habyarimana regime. It would appear that in order to become bishop in Rwanda under the Habyarimana regime one had to be loyal to the regime and to have a general disdain of the Tutsi minority. After the death of Habyarimana, the bishops supported the new regime and its violence towards the Tutsis. In particular, Archbishop Vincent Nsengiyumva was a close ally of the MDRN. He had been a long-term member of the party and was a close personal friend to the Habyarimana family. As a consequence of this close alliance, it had been impossible for the Catholic Church to develop separately from the Rwandan state. When the genocide started, the leadership of the Hutu dominated Catholic Church in Rwanda was not willing to sever ties with the regime or to condemn its actions. The bishops’ silence and their unwillingness to directly confront the regime on widespread violence made it possible for many Rwandans to develop their own interpretation of God’s will. Encouraged by the RTLM radio station, the génocidaires felt that they were supported by God. Furthermore, the bishops did not compel radicalized priests to end their involvement in the genocide which meant that the killing went on without any resistance from the Rwandan Church.

118 Pope John Paul II, “Message Du Pape Jean-Paul II à tout le Peuple Rwandaise,” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, June 9, 1994, http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/fr/messages/pont_messages/1994/documents/hf_jp- ii_mes_19940609_episcopato-rwanda.html 43

Chapter 5 The Vatican and the 1994 Rwandan genocide

In the two previous chapters, the involvement of the Rwandan clergy in the genocide is demonstrated. However, the Catholic Church is an international community, led by the Vatican and the Pope. In the eyes of the Catholic Church, the Pope is the representative of Christ on earth with the highest, universal authority. In the day to day running of the Catholic Church, the Pope is counselled by the Order of Bishops but he has ultimate authority.119 In addition to being leader of the Church, the Pope is also the head of state of the Vatican with a seat in the UN General Assembly as a permanent observer. As a result, the Pope has the right to be present at meetings of the General Assembly and to speak during discussions. In 1994, the Vatican and the Pope were confronted with a large outbreak of violence in Rwanda, a country that they had regarded as the most Christian in Africa.120 This chapter investigates how the Vatican and the Pope reacted to the genocide in Rwanda and what they did in its aftermath.

The Vatican and Rwanda relations When Catholic expansion into Rwanda started in 1901 with the opening of the first mission in Nyundo, the Pope and the Vatican were not directly involved. The missionary efforts in Africa by the White Fathers were supported by the then Pope but Africa, in general, was not seen as a continent where the Pope needed to have direct influence. The main objective was to secure the position of the Catholic Church as quickly as possible.121 After World War II, many clergy within the Catholic Church were shocked and horrified about the horrors that had taken place in all of Europe. Soon thereafter the role of the Catholic Church in these horrors was questioned, while the war raged through Europe Pope Pius XII seemed to be indifferent to the horrors surrounding him. Even during the war many people, including the clergy themselves wondered why Pope Pius XII did not speak out against the barbarous atrocities committed by the Nazis. As the Polish Bishop Karol Radonski

119 “Second Vatican Council Lumen Gentium,” Stichting InterKerk, accessed March 10, 2016, http://www.rkdocumenten.nl/rkdocs/index.php?mi=600&doc=617&al=22 120 Timothy Longman, Christianity and Genocide in Rwanda (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010) 4. 121 James Carney, Rwanda Before the Genocide; Catholic Politics and Ethnic Discourse in the late Colonial Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014) 2. 44 put it “Et Papa tacet” (and the Pope remains silent) after the Pope refused to respond to a letter written by the Bishop reporting the atrocities being committed in his diocese of Włocławek in Poland by the Nazis. 122 After the Second World War the clergy within the Catholic Church radically changed their actions towards ethnic discourse and matters of social justice. The second major change for the Catholic Church after World War II was the rise of communism both in Europe and Africa. With communism seemingly on the rise in Africa and with a louder call for self-determination throughout the continent a much more direct approach to the continent was needed by the Pope. Stimulated by fear of losing African countries to communism, the Vatican started to directly train and appoint indigenous clergy, like Mgr. Bigirumwami who was appointed bishop of Nyundo in June 1952. Also the Pope and the Vatican made themselves more visible in Africa. Pope Paul VI (1897-1978) was the first Pope to visit Africa when he visited Uganda in 1969. Pope Paul VI called the African continent “The new fatherland of Christ,”123 this because of the rising number of Catholics in Africa. This also meant that the continent could no longer be regarded as unimportant. However, it was not until the papacy of John Paul II (1920-2005), starting in 1978, that the gap between the African continent and the Vatican leadership diminished. Pope John II travelled to Africa 13 times and visited 48 countries, visiting Rwanda in September 1990.

During the Papacy of John Paul II, Hutu and Tutsi relations first became an issue directly involving the Vatican. As has been described in Chapter 4, the Vatican appointed the Tutsi Father Felicien Muvara as bishop but he withdrew from the appointment under pressure from the Archbishop Vincent Nsengiyumva and President Habyarimana. In addition, close ties between the Archbishop and the president were of growing concern to the Vatican.124 Under Pope John Paul II, the Vatican was increasingly focusing on social justice and human rights.125 For an Archbishop to have a close alliance with a corrupt, dictatorial regime would have been seen as inappropriate.

122 Micheal Phayer, “Helping the Jews is not an easy thing to do.” Vatican Holocaust Policy: Continuity or Change?” Holocaust and Genocide studies 21, no. 3 (2007): 423. 123 John Paul II, "Message of the Synod,” The New Evangelization, May 6, 1994, https://www.ewtn.com/new_evangelization/africa/synod/message.htm. 124 Longman, Christianity and Genocide, 133. 125 Silvio Cajiao, “Human rights in the Teachings of John Paul II” accessed March 20, 2016, http://www.clerus.org/clerus/dati/2003-11/05-13/07Pa25IN.html. 45

When the Pope visited Rwanda in September 1990, he spoke of the importance of solidarity in facing Rwanda’s problems. He also criticised the government for doing too little for its people: I know the many challenges you face. Your job is not easy and your efforts are often thwarted by unfavourable physical and economic conditions. […] I know that in traditional Rwanda, solidarity played a great role [...]. Now that everybody is cramped, this solidarity becomes more difficult. Everyone arrived at the limits of its own possibilities, is more difficult to help another. I invite you to make efforts to regain and strengthen your solidarity.” [..] “The state must facilitate access to all public services. It is important that you can give your children a good education at school, particularly so that they acquire professional competence [...]. You are also entitled to health centres, social services, to bank loans, administrative services.126

Despite these words of oblique criticism, the Pope spent much of his visit in the presence of the Archbishop and President Habyarimana. As mentioned in Chapter 4, the visit did not have a positive influence on Rwanda. Less than a month later, the RPF invasion from Uganda took place.

The Rwandan genocide in 1994 When genocide erupted on 6 April, the Vatican was about to hold its first Synod of African bishops. The Rwandan bishops were also scheduled to attend but when the plane of President Habyarimana was shot down, they decided not to go. The situation in Rwanda was found to be too unstable for them to be absent. The synod, taking place from 10 April until 8 May, was focused on the separation of church and state and the creation of new guidelines for evangelization of the African population.127 On the first day of the synod, Pope John Paul II referred to the growing violence in Rwanda:

..I wish to recall in particular the people and the Church of Rwanda, who these days are being tried by an upsetting tragedy in particular the dramatic assassination of the Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi. With you Bishops here present, I am sharing this

126 Pope John Paul II, “Radiomessage du Pape Jean-Paul II aux Paysans du Rwanda” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, September 8, 1990, http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/fr/speeches/1990/september/documents/hf_jp- ii_spe_19900908_contadini-rwanda.html. 127 Pope John Paul II, "Message of the Synod," The New Evangelization, May 6, 1994, https://www.ewtn.com/new_evangelization/africa/synod/message.htm. 46

suffering caused by this new catastrophic wave of violence and death which, investing this well-loved country is making blood flow even from Priest, Religious Sisters and Catechist, innocent victims of an absurd hate. With you, reunited in this African Synod, and in communion of spirit with the Bishops of Rwanda who could not be with us today, I feel the need to launch an appeal to stop that homicide of violence. Together with you, I raise my voice to tell all of you stop these acts of violence! Stop these tragedies! Stop these fratricidal massacres!128

In the following days the Pope made two more references to the genocide in Rwanda on 27 April the Pope spoke openly about genocide in Rwanda. “I invite all in position of authority to work generously and effectively to end this genocide. It is time for brotherhood! It is time for reconciliation.”129 The Pope again spoke of the genocide in Rwanda on 15 May; Again today, I feel it is my duty to recall the violence to which the people of Rwanda have been subjected. This is an out-and-out genocide for which unfortunately even Catholics are responsible.130

Despite the fact that the Pope was limited in his information about the Rwandan genocide, his main source of information was the archbishop and missionary priest fleeing from Rwanda. These statements make two things perfectly clear. First, The Pope was aware of the violence in Rwanda, that it involved members of the Catholic Church and that it amounted to genocide. Second, although he spoke out against violence, he did not clarify who were the perpetrators and who were the victims. This reflects the opinion of the entire

128 Pope John Paul II, “Eucharistic Concelebrating for the Opening of the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops; Homily of His Holiness John Paul II” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, April 10, 1994, https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1994/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_19940410_sinodo- africano.html 129 Pope John Paul II, Rome 27 April 1994, quote found in Carol Rittner et al., ‘Genocide in Rwanda; Complicity of the churches?’ (St Paul: Paragon House 2004) 75. 130 Agenzia Fides, ”The Pope’s anguished and repeated calls during the genocide in Rwanda: “Do not give in to the temptation of hatred and revenge. At this tragic stage of the life of your country, be builders of peace and love”, April 6 2004, http://www.fides.org/en/news/2156- VATICAN_The_Pope_s_anguished_and_repeated_calls_during_the_genocide_in_Rwanda_Do_not_give_in_to_ the_temptation_of_hatred_and_revenge_At_this_tragic_stage_of_the_life_of_your_country_be_builders_of_ peace_and_love#.V3KnrbiLS01 47 international community at that time which was trying to avoid an appearance of partiality to any of the fighting parties.131 The Pope’s statements of 27 April and 15 May are particularly interesting because they represent the first time that a world leader refers to genocide.132 Previously, world leaders had carefully avoided the term because they were worried this would give them moral responsibility to intervene.133 By naming the conflict as genocide, the Pope appears to be urging international intervention. This breaks with international norms at the time and could have to do with the fact that Pope John Paul II did not want to repeat the same mistake as his predecessor Pope Pius XII had made. However not all in the Catholic Church shared the Pope’s forwardness, during the meeting of the UN Human Rights council in Geneva which took place in early June, the special envoy of the Vatican, Archbishop Paul Tabet, referred to the violence in Rwanda as ‘massacres’ and ‘serious violations of human rights’ but not as genocide.134 The statements of 27 April and 15 May show that the Pope was aware of and concerned about the growing violence in Rwanda. However, in his fear of being seen as a partisan, the Pope does not clearly name the perpetrators, the Rwandan government and its allies, or appeal to their faith directly. Although Pope John Paul II tried to maintain a neutral view of the conflict, this neutrality was tested at the beginning of June. On 7 June, RPF soldiers killed two bishops, ten priests, and the Archbishop. In his messages to the Rwandan people on 9 June, he speaks of how deeply he is saddened by the murder of the Archbishop. However, he does not mention who killed him or why the archbishop was killed.135 The killing of the Archbishop was a great embarrassment to the RPF. The execution of 13 unarmed members of the clergy, arrested without any form of trail, fuelled the propaganda spread by Hutu extremists that the RPF was, in fact, killing Hutus in Rwanda. After the killing of the Archbishop, the Pope sent a special envoy to Rwanda, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray. At the end of June, Cardinal Etchegaray arrived in Rwanda where he spoke to

131 Alison Des Forges, Leave none to tell the story; Genocide in Rwanda (New York: Human Rights Watch 1999) 19. 132 “John Paul II was first to refer to Rwandan massacre as “genocide” Vatican Insider, January 8 2014, http://www.lastampa.it/2014/01/08/vaticaninsider/eng/world-news/john-paul-ii-was-first-to-refer-to- rwandan-massacre-as-genocide-XV1o8ij79AAZub6RIh7YxL/pagina.html. 133 Des Forges, Leave none to tell the story, 19. 134 Margaret Brearley “the Rwandan genocide and the British religious press” in, Genocide in Rwanda; Complicity of the churches? Edited by Carol Rittner et al., (St Paul: Paragon House 2004) 177. 135 Pope John Paul II, “Message Du Pape Jean-Paul II à tout le Peuple Rwandaise,” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, June 9, 1994, http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/fr/messages/pont_messages/1994/documents/hf_jp- ii_mes_19940609_episcopato-rwanda.html. 48

RPF representatives and with the remnants of the genocidal government on the Rwanda Congolese (then Zaïre) border.136 Cardinal Etchegaray found a deeply divided church. When he asked the remaining bishops, “Are you saying that the blood of tribalism is deeper than the waters of baptism?’’ one of the bishops present answered, “Yes, it is.” 137 Even more shockingly, the Bishop of Gikongoro, Mgr. Augustin Misago, told the Cardinal that the Pope needed to “find a new place for Tutsi priests because the Rwandan people do not want them anymore.” He also encountered Father Thadée Rusingizandekwe, carrying a shotgun. Father Rusingizandekwe was later reported by survivors as one of the leaders of the locale Interahamwe.138 At the end of his stay in Rwanda, Cardinal Etchegaray held a speech for both the RPF and for the government at the border: …There have been so many ‘abominable massacres’ (those are the Pope's words) — even in your churches which have become abattoirs of the innocent. There has been so much destruction of your homes, your schools, your social centres. Even more have you been wounded in the heart. Your spirit has been denatured. [..] I come to you in the name of Pope John Paul II to fortify again a weakened, scattered Church, decapitated by the killing of three bishops, some hundred priests, many religious men and women. You have need of much fidelity in keeping faith with your Church, even in the extent of its weakness.”139

There are a number of remarkable elements about Cardinal Etchegaray’s speech at this time. First, he does not use the word genocide but “abominable massacres” which is a correct description of the events but does not cover the totality of the violence. Second, Cardinal Etchegaray note that churches have become “abattoirs of the innocent” but does not mention that the clergy were sometimes the killers. Third, the cardinal does not identify the perpetrators or the victims, as if both sides are equally to blame for the massacres. Further, Cardinal Etchegaray refers to the murder of the bishops and other clergy while ignoring the death of thousands of Catholic parishioners which shows that the Catholic Church still not fully understood the severity of the genocide. The words of Etchegaray did not seem to have

136 Chris McGreal, Chaplains of the militia; The tangled story of the Catholic Church during the Rwanda’s genocide, (London: Guardian Books 2014) 40. 137 Emmanuel M. Katongole “Christianity, Tribalism, and the Rwandan Genocide”; A Catholic reassessment of Christian “Social Responsibility” Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture 8, no. 3 (2005): 67. 138 Philip Gourevitch, We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Be Killed With Our Families: Stories From Rwanda, (New York: Picador 1999) 137. 139 “Cardinal Etchegaray's message to the people of Rwanda” The Tablet July 9 1994, http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/9th-july-1994/23/cardinal-etchegarays-message-to-the-people-of-rwan. 49 made a great impact in the Rwandan society as by the time of his arrival the end of June Rwanda was in complete chaos. The majority of the Rwandans had no knowledge of the visit of Cardinal Etcheray let alone being able to hear his messages. The real mission of the Cardinal seems to have been creating factual account for the Pope in Rome about the situation in Rwanda.

The double genocide theory and problems with the RPF regime After the RPF takeover of Rwanda, many Hutus fled the country, fearing reprisals. Remnants of the previous Rwandan government, members of the Interahamwe and also many Hutu priests fled to the neighbouring country of Zaïre, today known as the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most Hutu refugees were gathered at the Goma camp right on the border. In August 1994, 26 Hutu priests, including Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka140, wrote a letter to John Paul II from Goma, explaining their actions during the genocide.141 The letter stated that the massacres had been “The result of the provocation and of the harassment of the Rwandese people by the RPF,” arguing that “We dare even to confirm that the number of Hutu civilians killed by the army of the RPF exceeds by far the Tutsi victims of the ethnic troubles.”142 This idea that the RPF was committing a second genocide quickly became popular among some parts of the Catholic Church, including among the Order of the White Fathers. One of these White Fathers, Father Philippe de Dorlodot reported: Two genocides have taken place in Rwanda, now in ruins because of extremist from both camps. There has been the genocide…perpetrated against the Tutsi… And also the genocide –the one never spoken of – perpetrated by the RPF in the zones it occupied. It is widely known that massive killings took place, as now long awaited witness accounts are becoming available. As many as 400,000 to 500,000 displaced persons are still unaccounted for.143

140 “ICTR Indictment Wenceslas Munyeshyaka Count 1 point 11”, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, accessed October 20, 2015, http://unictr.unmict.org/sites/unictr.org/files/case-documents/ictr-05- 87/indictments/en/050720.pdf. 141Mahmood Mamdani, When Victims Become Killers; Colonialism, Nativism, and Genocide in Rwanda (Princeton: Princeton University Press 2001) 242. 142 Raymond Bronner, “Clergy in Rwanda Is Accused of Abetting Atrocities” New York Times July 7 1995, http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/07/world/clergy-in-rwanda-is-accused-of-abetting-atrocities.html. 143 Charles de Lespinay, “The Churches And Genocide In East Africa Great Lake Region,” in In God’s Name; Genocide and Religion in the Twentieth Century, ed. Omer Bartov et al., (New York: Berghahn Books 2001) 172. 50

Another White Father, the Dutch priest Kees Overdulve also blames the RPF for the violence in Rwanda: One of the hidden but identifiable aspirations of the RPF was to destroy the basic rights established by the Republic so as to retaliate against the 1959-1961 Revolution by the Hutu.144

Father Overdulve was also very critical of the reconciliation process in Rwanda. In an article named Reflections on the Deltmold confessions of Rwanda’s Hutus and Tutsis, Father Overdulve analyses the reconciliation efforts made by Rwandan Christians in the German town, Detmold, in 1996. He questions the wisdom of the Hutu participants asking for forgiveness from Tutsis because this; Creates the danger of approving of, or at least smoothing over, the present reality, in which one should especially bear in mind the military repression which the population is suffering from… The genocide among the Tutsi in 1994 must not be used as a justification of murders which sometimes assume the features of a new genocide, this time against the Hutu.145 In addition, Father Overdulve considers that; the Tutsi confession of guilt is not expressed, with the result that here a certain imbalance becomes apparent.146

Instead of applauding the efforts at reconciliation, Father Overdulve seems to be determent to fuel new hatred between the two groups by representing the Hutu as being ‘innocent victims’ of a sinister genocide plot by ‘conspiring Tutsis’. Father Overdulve shows a bias against the Tutsi, despite the evidence from Rwanda, which is reminiscent of Mgr. Bears of the Nyakibanda seminary who in the 1960 argued that the Tutsi had a racial predisposition for; ‘Flattery, egoism and insincerity.’147 These revisionist theories, proposed by the influential Order of the White Fathers, eventually influenced the Vatican. After the arrest of the Bishop Misago of Gikongoro for involvement in the genocide in May 1999, the official newspaper of the Vatican L'Osservatore Romano published an article accusing the new Rwandan government of

144 Lespinay, “The Churches And Genocide,” 174. 145 Kees Overdulve, “Reflections on the Deltmold Confessions of Rwanda’s Hutu’s and Tutsi’s”, Exchange 26, no.3 (1997): 259. 146 Overdulve, “Reflections on Deltmold,” 260. 147 James Carney, “Far from having unity, we are tending towards total disunity’: The Catholic Major Seminary in Rwanda, 1950–62”, Studies in World Christianity 18, no. 1 (2012): 92. 51 conducting a defamation campaign against the Catholic Church. One aspect of this smear campaign was, according to the article, using churches as memorial centres: …Part of this project is the express wish of the authorities to convert a certain number of Catholic churches into genocide mausoleums. The obvious intent is to link the Church with the genocide in the memory of Rwandans. The Holy See is opposed to this pretence, pointing out that the churches are places of worship and reconciliation for the whole community (Tutsis and Hutus) and cannot be monopolized as charnel- houses by part of the population.148

The article continues with what they call “the unexplored side of the issue” in which the double genocide theory is explained with the claim that there were twice as many Hutu casualties than Tutsi casualties: At the moment, the population’s attention is focused on the 1994 genocide. But, in fact, it must be continually made clear that there was a double genocide in Rwanda: the genocide of the Tutsis (and some moderate Hutus), perpetrated after 6 April 1994 and claiming over 500,000 victims, and that of the Hutus, lasting from October 1990 until the Rwandan Patriotic Front (Tutsis) seized power in July 1994. This genocide of the Hutus was later continued in the forests of Zaire, where fleeing Hutus were massacred for months, without any protection from the international community. The Hutu victims number about one million. Both genocides were horrible and both must be remembered to avoid the risk of one-sided propaganda.149

Although it is certainly true that the RPF committed crimes against unarmed civilians during the civil war and in reprisals during 1994, these killings were not on the scale claimed by the priests. According to a UN official, the RPF killed between 25,000 to 45,000 people during April-August 1994.150 Although this death toll is immense, it does not compare to the 500,000-800,000 people killed by Hutu extremists in the same period. This misinformation by (missionary) priests, based on a bias in favour of the Hutus, made it very difficult for the Vatican to respond adequately to the genocide.

148 “Defamation campaign in Rwanda” L'Osservatore Romano June 2, 1999, http://www.ewtn.com/library/ISSUES/RWANDA.HTM. 149Ibid. 150 Des Forges, Leave none to tell the story, 1109-1110 52

After the genocide: The Vatican and the prosecution of the clergy Another problem that the Vatican has had to deal with is what to do with the clergy charged with participation in the Rwandan genocide. After the genocide, a large group of clergy fled Rwanda. Most of them were repatriated by the Vatican and re-located to parish churches in Europe: Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka to France, Father Emmanuel Rukundo to Switzerland and Father Athanase Seromba, who changed his name in Anastasio Sumba Bura, to Florence, Italy. The two Benedictine sisters, Gertrude Mukangango and Maria Kisito went to live in Belgium. The Vatican helped the Rwandan clergy to migrate, mostly from refugee camps in Congo, to Europe. When the ICTR issued arrest warrants for the clergy, the Catholic Church protested against their extradition. The Catholic Church in general favoured a more restorative justice approach in Rwanda based on forgiveness and reconciliation than a retributive justice approach in which perpetrators had to stand trial and faced long prison sentences. At the heart of this matter is the deep belief within the Catholic Church that all sins can be forgiven when a person repents his or her actions. When the arrest warrant came for Father Seromba, he was not arrested straightaway, probably because of pressure exerted by the Vatican. Instead, the Catholic Church sent him into hiding at a convent in Tuscany. After the intervention of the Chief Prosecutor of the ICTR, Carla Del Ponte, he was eventually extradited.151 The arrest warrants annoyed the Vatican, while the guilty verdicts of ICTR and other courts for priests shocked the Vatican. As a spokesperson of the Vatican said after the guilty verdict of the two nuns in Belgium: The Holy See cannot but express a certain surprise at seeing the grave responsibility of so many people and groups involved in this tremendous genocide in the heart of Africa heaped on so few people.152

This reaction seems to ignore that fact that the Pope had already stated that some of the killers were Catholics. Although the Clergy in Rwanda were far from the largest group that were part of the génocidaires, they were harshly judged by the international justice system because of their status within the Rwandan society. However, the Vatican feels that clergy are being ‘singled out’ in the retributive justice system.

151 Rory Carroll, “Church hides Rwandan priest in Tuscany” Guardian, July 16, 2001, http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jul/16/rorycarroll. 152 BBC, “Vatican 'surprise' at Rwanda verdicts” BBC news, June 9, 2001, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1380348.stm. 53

Reconciliation and the Catholic Church The word ‘reconciliation’ and the concept of reconciliation play an important role in the Catholic teachings. In Catholic doctrine, reconciliation consists of giving penance for sins which leads to reconciliation with God. Penance is usually given in the form of confession and prayer but also by asking for forgiveness of the party that has been wronged.153 In the case of the genocide in Rwanda, the Catholic Church has often spoken about reconciliation between the different ethnic groups, both during the genocide and the aftermath. On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the genocide, Pope Francis said to the visiting Bishops of Rwanda: “Twenty years after those tragic events, reconciliation and the healing of these wounds certainly remains the priority of the Church in Rwanda.”154 After the genocide ended in the summer of 1994 the Rwandan prisons started to fill up with suspected génocidaires. In the years following the genocide more than 120000 people were arrested in Rwanda on suspicion of participation in the genocide.155 Since it would be unfeasible to trail and sentence all these suspects of genocide with the model of a retributive justice system, a new model was needed. This new model came in the form of Gacaca courts. Gacaca which can be loosely translated as “on the grass” is an old Rwandan system of settling disputes. The main objective of the Gacaca courts after the genocide was to provide impartial, efficient and effective justice system. Gacaca consisted of a mix between restorative justice aimed at reconciliation and retributive system aimed at punishment and stopping impunity. 156 In exchange for a full disclosure of crimes, the naming of accomplices, and expressions of remorse, génocidaires could receive reduced prison sentence.157 Between the years 2005-2012 about 12,000 courts were established judging over 1.2 million cases.158 The Catholic Church in Rwanda was appreciative of the implementation of the Gacaca courts

153 “Catechism of the Catholic Church: Article four, the sacrament of penance and reconciliation” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, accessed March 21, 2016, http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c2a4.htm. 154 Pope Francis, “Address of Pope Francis to the Bishops of the episcopal conference of Rwanda on their Ad Limina visit” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, April 3, 2014, http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2014/april/documents/papa-francesco_20140403_ad- limina-rwanda.html. 155 UN, “Background Information on the Justice and Reconciliation Process in Rwanda,” The United Nations, accessed June 10 2016, http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/rwanda/about/bgjustice.shtml. 156 Bert Ingelaere, “The Gacaca courts in Rwanda” in Traditional Justice and Reconciliation after Violent Conflict: Learning from African Experiences, (Stockholm; International IDEA 2008), 38-40. 157James Carney, “A Generation After Genocide: Catholic Reconciliation in Rwanda”, in Theological Studies 76, no. 4 (2015): 793-794. 158 UN, “Background Information on the Justice and Reconciliation Process in Rwanda,” The United Nations, accessed June 10 2016, http://www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/rwanda/about/bgjustice.shtml. 54 by the Rwandan government mainly because this form of justice was more oriented towards reconciliation.159 However outside of Rwanda some institutions of the Catholic Church were more sceptical mainly over the issues of the death penalty and alleged impartiality of the courts. When Father Guy Theunis, a White Father from Belgium, was charged by the Gacaca courts for his alleged role in the genocide the website of the White Father order descripted the Gacaca court system as ‘infamous tribunals were people could be charged on rumours alone’.160 The Catholic Church can play an important role in the reconciliation process in Rwanda. The Catholic Church is still a respected and powerful institution in Rwanda. Despite the fact that the number of Catholics in Rwanda has declined to an estimated 49.5 % of the population, this is partly because of the role the Catholic Church played during the genocide. However, it is still the country’s main religion.161 The Rwandan Catholic Church also had their own reconciliation programs two of which were the Gacaca Nkirisitu (Christian Gacaca) and the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission in Rwanda. Gacaca Nkirisitu encouraged perpetrators to confess their crimes in front of the Church and their victims after a six-month period in which the perpetrator abstains from the sacraments and follows a programme of reconciliation provided by the Church at the end of the six-month period both victims and perpetrators undergo a ritual of forgiveness and re-baptizing. The aim of this programme is to promote reconciliation within the Church parishes.162 But there is also a down side to this practice: When sins are forgiven and penance is made the perpetrators are forgiven in the eyes of the Church which sometimes has seen no further need for participating in other forms of justice, such as the ICTR. In the case of Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, this becomes clear. After leaving Congo he found refuge in French where he starts work as a parish priest. When it became clear that he is suspected of genocide the French parish held a meeting of reconciliation and forgiveness on his behalf. According to Father Michel Moran a French colleague of Father Munyeshyaka, this ritual meant that Father Munyeshyaka was ‘right’ with the world again.163

159 Carney, “A Generation After Genocide: Catholic Reconciliation in Rwanda”, 793. 160 “Pater Guy Theunis Blikt Terug Op Bewogen Rwanda periode” Missionarissen van Afrika, accessed June 10, 2016, http://www.lavigerie.be/spip.php?article987. 161 “CIA Fact book; Rwanda” Central Intelligence Agency accessed March 28 2016, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rw.html. 162 Carney, “A Generation After Genocide: Catholic Reconciliation in Rwanda”, 797-799. 163 Chris McGreal, “Hiding in plain sight in France: the priests accused in Rwandan genocide Catholic leaders accused of acting as apologists for the slaughter by helping priests accused of murder in Rwanda evade justice” Guardian, April 7, 2014, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/07/rwanda-genocide-20-years-priests- catholic-church. 55

The Catholic Justice and Peace Commission aims at ‘building a culture of peace’ in Rwanda and the rest of the region. The focus of the commission is on collaboration with other Catholic reconciliation and peace initiatives in Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by promoting the shared identity these different groups have in their Catholic religion. In 2013 the commission organized soccer matches between young men from the border regions of the DRC and Rwanda approximately 5000 people attended.164 Catholicism gives Rwandans the opportunity to identify themselves as Catholic, rather than the ethnic identities of Hutu and Tutsi, which could be of major importance in the reconciliation process.165 However, using the Catholic Church as the basis for reconciliation is also dangerous because the previous teachings of the Catholic Church fuelled ethnic divisions. Moreover, as has already been reviewed above, there are elements within the Catholic Church that still firmly believe in keeping these racial tensions alive. One way to circumvent this problem is for the Catholic Church itself to take penance and apologize for their role in the Rwandan genocide, just as Protestant churches and the Anglican Church already have done. The offering of an apology is something discussed at length within the Catholic Church of Rwanda. In The New Times, a Rwandan newspaper published in English, the influential bishop Mgr. Mbonyintege says that the Catholic Church will apologize ‘soon’ for its role in the Rwandan genocide. However, the Archbishop of the Kigali Archdiocese, Thadée Ntihinyurwa, said that church will apologise “as soon as the Genocide inquiries and court cases of the Church members are over.”166 The Archbishop fails to mention that the closure of these court cases could take a long time as genocide suspects are sometimes prosecuted decades later.

In conclusion, it appears that the role of the Vatican in the Rwandan genocide differs from the roles played by individual priests and by the Church hierarchy. The Vatican was not directly involved in the violence, and the Pope made multiple pleas to end the violence. However, the terms of his appeal were vague, not directly condemning the Hutu extremists as perpetrators and not directly ordering priests to cease involvement in genocide. In addition, the relationship between the new RPF government of Rwanda and the Vatican have been strained because of the murder of the Archbishop and other bishops by RPF soldiers. The

164 Carney, “A Generation After Genocide: Catholic Reconciliation in Rwanda”, 801-802. 165 Vivienne Jarbi, Discourses on violence; Conflict analysis reconsidered, (Manchester; Manchester University Press 1996) 136. 166 Jean Mugabo, “Church to apologise for role 'soon” New Times, 4 May 2015, http://www.newtimes.co.rw/section/Printer/2015-05-04/188460/. 56

Vatican also accepted the revisionist theories of some of its clergy, as well as being unwilling to see priests brought to justice for their role in the genocide finding that repenting their sins inside the Church is enough. In these ways, the Vatican and the Pope have been unable to come to terms with the role of the Catholic Church in the genocide.

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Conclusion

The main question asked in the introduction of this thesis was, why was the Catholic Church with so much influence in Rwandan society unable to stop the violence between its own parishioners? In this thesis it has become apparent that the root cause of the inability for the churches to prevent the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 can be found in the early beginnings of the Church when the first mission started in Rwanda in 1901.

The order of the White Fathers under the leadership of Mgr. Classe were focused on quick conversion of the ruling elite. The experience of the White Fathers in other colonies had taught them that it was necessary for the survival of the Catholic mission to focus on the indigenous leadership with the underlying idea that as the leaders converted to Christianity the rest of the population would soon follow. Under the teachings of the Hamitic theory the White Fathers made the Christian religion more appealing to the locale elite. In the Hamitic theory the population of Rwanda was classified as the Tutsi and Hutu as two distinct separate races. According to the theory the Tutsis were a lost tribe form north of Africa who were sent by God to rule over the inferior Hutu population. The White Fathers implemented this ethnical division with help from, at first, the German colonizers and later on Belgian. Since the White Fathers had a monopoly on the educational system of Rwanda the system of ethnical division was even felt there, with different schools and curriculums for Hutu and Tutsi students. This ethnic discourse of the Catholic Church converted an enormous amount of Tutsis which secured the Catholic Mission of power and status but left the Hutu population socially and economically marginalized. The method of top down conversion led to a large group of Tutsi willing to convert to the Catholic Church. However, this was not always done out of deep conviction for the Catholic teachings but rather as a status symbol to further one’s career in the new Colonial state of Rwanda. The Catholic mission in Rwanda had become an in indispensable fixture in the Rwandan Colonial state but did so by creating a radical ethnic discourse. The situation of ethnic discourse by the Catholic Church in Rwanda drastically changed after the end of the Second World War. The horrors committed during the war and the silence of Pope Pius XII throughout all of this deeply shocked many clergy. This led to deep change on how the clergy in Europe saw their own role in society. This change could also be seen in the new missionaries that came to Rwanda. They had witnessed the effects of

58 extreme ethnic division in Europe, something that made them champions of social justice. Next to this development the Vatican leadership saw the threat of international communism that was on the rise in Europe and was believed to be spreading towards Africa. It was this combination that formed the basis for drastic change in the way the Catholic Church operated in Rwanda. Not only Rwanda but the entire Catholic Church changed drastically; instead of supporting the elite the Church would now be supporting the marginalized masses. In the case of Rwanda this resulted in a shift in alliances instead of supporting the Tutsi minority elite. With the arrival of a new head of mission Mgr. Perraudin the white Fathers changed their conversion approach. From ‘top down’ to conversions at the ‘grass root’ level. The Catholic Church changed from being the Church of the Tutsi elite to becoming the Church of the Hutu masses. One thing that did not change was that the new method of conversion was still heavily dependent on a radical ethnic discourse. In 1930 Mgr. Classe declared to the Belgian Colonial regime that; “We have no better, more active, and intelligent chiefs than the Batutsi [Tutsi]. They are the ones best suited to understand progress; they are the ones the population likes best. The government must work mainly with them.”167 But the vision that the White Fathers had about the Tutsis drastically changed over time. Through the eyes of the new missionaries the Tutsis were seen in a completely different light, as Mg. Bears professor at Nyakibanda seminary stated in 1960. “The Tutsi are declined to flattery, egoism and insincerity”168 In a period of 30 years the leadership of the Catholic Church in Rwanda had completely changed its view of the Tutsi and Hutu relationship. By changing the schooling system to allow for more and academic teaching to Hutu students the Catholic Church created a new Hutu elite. The changes within the Catholic Church led to many new conversions, this time by the Hutu masses. But ethnical division was still the method of conversion. The students attending the largest seminary in Rwanda, Nyakibanda, were not taught to be a united brotherhood of priest, instead they were taught racial division and even hatred. For all their differences Mgr. Perraudin and Mgr. Classe seemed to have been in agreement about one thing: In both their views the Catholic Church has to create a comfortable climate between its own leaders and the ruling elite in Rwanda. The fear that other (Christian) religions would develop a religious base in what these gentlemen saw as ‘their Catholic Rwanda’. This fear led to a cooperation between church and state which made

167 Gérard Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis; History of a Genocide (London: Hurst & Co, 1995) 26. 168 James Carney, Rwanda Before the Genocide; Catholic Politics and Ethnic Discourse in the late Colonial Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 2014) 153. 59 the Catholic Church synonymous with the Rwandan state. So it is true that the Catholic Church had a lot of influence in Rwanda but it was also heavily dependent on the ruling party. Within the elite of the Rwandan Catholic Church there seems to have been a fear that they would lose much of their support if they acted against the government’s plans. This fact combined with the ethnic discourse used to convert Rwanda in the first place made that the Catholic religion was not a unifying force in Rwanda as one might imagine it to be, but instead it was one of the foundations of racial division.

The full horror of this racial division became apparent during the genocide in 1994. It was then that the full scope of years of racial division in the Catholic Church became painfully known to the rest of the world. The years of racial teachings in Nyakibanda had led to a generation of priests that believed that their Tutsi countrymen were the enemy. The indigenous priests who had been educated and ordained in Rwanda were the most visible elements in Rwandan religious life. They would have been the ones that should have shown their parishioners the unity of the Catholic Church and strengthened the bonds between them. In the Rwandan society they were kept in high regard and seen as keepers of Christian morality and decency. These priests should have been the ones to uphold this Christian morality when the genocide broke out. But instead the priests were educated by the Catholic Church in ethnical discourse. Most of the priests charged by the ICTR were ordained in the early 1990s in the middle of a civil war. They were educated in an institution that preached racial division and were sent to their parish churches where people were scared for their future, because of the war as well as the economic situation in the country. The priests were unable and sometimes simply unwilling to unify the population. The problems in Rwanda eventually led to the genocide in 1994 in which some of Rwanda’s priests and clergy started to play a pivotal role. The trials in the ICTR make clear that the priest and other clergy played an important role in the identification of the victims in the genocide. With Church attendance being one of the highest in the world the priests played a vital part in the Rwandan society as they were also present at baptisms, marriages and funerals. Because they were intimately familiar with family relations and ethnicities, the priests where quite useful sources of information for the Interahamwe. Furthermore, it has also become clear from the testimony given in the ICTR that the support given by the priests and clergy was a source of comfort and motivation for the killers. The participation of the clergy in the killings created for them the idea that the genocide actually met with God’s favour.

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Because of the close ties between the Rwandan Government and the Church elite the Bishops and Archbishop of Rwanda had become fully imbedded in the regime. They remained silent and absent in the years prior to the genocide when they saw religious motivation being used to intimidate and demonize the Tutsi population in the popular press and on the radio. The Bishops had become so entangled with the regime of Habyarimana that one could not see where the Rwandan state ended and the Catholic Church began. It has become clear that president Habyarimana had great influence over the election of Bishops through his close relationship with the Archbishop. The president only picked Bishops that where Hutu and loyal to his party and even went as far as selecting his own family members. The Archbishop in particular was known for his loyalty to president Habyarimana and was in fact a member of Habyarimana political party. The close ties of the Archbishop to the president and his wife made it impossible for him to voice any opposition against the government. The Bishops in Rwanda did not speak out against the genocidal government because they themselves were part of the same elite. The silence of the Bishops ensured that the Rwandan militia and clergy felt justified in killing Tutsis. The silence was caused by a lack of separation between church and state, which in turn was caused by the way Rwanda and the rest of Africa was ignored for a long time by the Vatican. By the time the Vatican became interested in Africa and Rwanda in the 1980s the bonds between the church and state were already firmly in place and could not be undone so quickly. In 1994, different from the rest of the international community, the Pope did speak of a genocide in Rwanda taking place in Rwanda. However, the Pope did not speak directly to any specific groups during the killing. Nor was he able to stop the genocide or at least diminish the violence as one might expect within a country which was as Catholic by nature as Rwanda. It seems to be that the Catholic Church in Rwanda was more aligned with the genocidal government than it was with the Pope in Rome. This also explains the second part of the main question asked in this thesis; Why were the Churches unable to stop the violence? Simply put there was no real difference between the leadership of the state and the leadership of the Church in Rwanda. This meant that when the government of Rwanda started to kill Tutsis, a part of the Church started to kill Tutsi as well.

What does all this mean for the future of the Catholic Church in Rwanda? The Catholic Church has changed in Rwanda since the genocide. There have been programs and institutions formed by the church to help with reconciliation in Rwanda. But there are still elements that make it impossible for the Catholic Church to be the institution of peace and

61 reconciliation in Rwanda it so desires itself to be. Through the unwillingness to participate in retributive legal procedures to bring to justice the clergy accused of genocide and the unwillingness to look at their own history in relation to the genocide make that the Catholic Church in Rwanda has declined in numbers since the genocide. Before the genocide in 1994 almost 70% of the country was Catholic, today this number is just below 50% though Catholicism still remains Rwanda’s largest religion. But the Church’s unwillingness to look at their own history also leads to a bigger problem. The foundation of the Catholic Church in Rwanda is still broken. Racial discourse and division remain part of the Catholic Church and as long as the division remains unresolved, there is still a chance that in the future the Catholic Church in Rwanda will once again change the fifth commanded to; ‘Thou Shalt Kill’.

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