Grief and Denial among Rwandan Catholics in the aftermath of the Genocide against the Tutsi

Abstract

The attitude of church members and church leaders – Catholic as well as Protestant – during the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda is an ongoing object of contestation. A careful examination of the sources shows that the Catholic Church never spoke with one voice on this matter. During the genocide itself and in the period immediately following the genocide, the Catholic bishops, the Holy See and a good number of missionaries failed to recognise the reality of the genocide, adopting instead a posture increasingly critical of the new Rwandan government. By contrast, among the priests and the laity, in Kigali, in Nyundo and in Butare in particular, many clearly manifested the desire to establish the truth of what happened and to rebuild the church on a new basis.