Rwandans gathered last Sunday to begin a solemn 100-day commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, writes Ellen Teague.
President Paul Kagame said the country had become “a family once again”, as he laid a wreath at Kigali Genocide Memorial, where more than a quarter of a million victims are buried, and lit a Flame of Remembrance that will burn for 100 days, coinciding with the duration of the killings.
A number of foreign leaders were present – mainly African, although Prime Minister Charles Michel represented Belgium, which had peacekeeping troops killed. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker also attended. Christian church leaders kept a low profile. Rwanda was about 90 per cent Christian at the time, and yet thousands died in churches where they had taken refuge. In 2016, the Catholic Church in Rwanda apologised for the Church’s role in the genocide. On 6 April 1994, the dominant Hutus of Rwanda turned on the Tutsi minority. One hundred days later, when the killing finally stopped, the death toll stood at 800,000. In 2017, Pope Francis apologised for that history to President Kagame. A Vatican statement after the two men met said: “He implored anew God’s forgiveness for the sins and failings of the Church and its members.”
11 April 2019, The Tablet
Solemn anniversary of genocide 25 years on
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