Kigali, 03 December, 2019 / 2:10 am (ACI Africa).
25 years after the 1994 Rwanda genocide that pitted majority Hutus against minority Tutsis leading to the death of an estimated 800,000 people, the Catholic Church in the Central African nation has been hailed for its contribution to reconciliation efforts in the county.
“We cannot ignore the fact that the Church had heroes who lost their lives because they stuck to the values of being Rwandan, a pact of humanity, and knowing to choose what’s right,” Rwanda’s First Lady Jeannette Kagame is quoted as saying on November 29 during the Conference on Peace and Justice organized by the Catholic Church in Rwanda.
The conference was part of the month dedicated to unity and reconciliation, which offers the Church an opportunity to evaluate its role in the ongoing reconciliation efforts.
The First Lady noted that restoring normalcy after the crime against humanity required the collaboration of various stakeholders including the Catholic Church.
“When the people of Rwanda received peace after the genocide, building the social fabric of the people of Rwanda required strength, discernment, collaboration and thinking big,” Ms. Kagame said and added, “This could not have been achieved by one individual.”
