{"id":100010,"date":"2025-04-25T18:28:24","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T18:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/bizimana-commends-pope-francis-noble-legacy-in-rwanda-catholic-church-ties"},"modified":"2025-04-25T18:28:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T18:28:24","slug":"bizimana-commends-pope-francis-noble-legacy-in-rwanda-catholic-church-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/policy\/bizimana-commends-pope-francis-noble-legacy-in-rwanda-catholic-church-ties","title":{"rendered":"Bizimana commends Pope Francis \u2018noble legacy\u2019 in Rwanda-Catholic Church ties"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>Asking for forgiveness for the role played by some members of the Catholic Church in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi \u201cis a noble legacy that Pope Francis, as the leader of the global Catholic Church, has left behind,\u201d says Jean-Damasce\u0300ne Bizimana, the Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement.<\/p>\n<p>Pope Francis passed away on Easter Monday at the age of 88. In 2017, the Pontiff acknowledged that some Catholic priests and nuns had &#8220;succumbed to hatred and violence&#8221; by participating in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, during which over one million innocent people were killed.<\/p>\n<p>Bizimana noted that Pope Francis had a special connection with Rwanda and passed away having strengthened the relationship between the Church and the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is a noble legacy that, as the leader of the global Catholic Church, he acknowledged that members of the Catholic clergy played a role in the Genocide against the Tutsi. He admitted to the failings of the institution,\u201d the minister said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though he did not declare that the Church as an institution was directly involved, he recognised that serious misconduct occurred and sought forgiveness for it. This is a positive step that supports historical truth and fosters constructive cooperation between the state and the Church through transparency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>However, Bizimana said the next leadership of the church, as well as other religious institutions, \u201cshould support justice so that their members who took part in the Genocide are held accountable for the crimes they committed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following the Genocide, a Catholic network assisted priests and nuns complicit in the violence in escaping to Europe and other continents to evade justice.<\/p>\n<p>During the 31st commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, held in April, Bizimana mentioned Joseph Sagahutu, a priest suspected of participating in the genocide at Muganza Catholic Parish in Nyaruguru District, who is still reportedly living freely in Belgium.<\/p>\n<p>Father Sagahutu is among several members of the Catholic clergy who facilitated the killings and remain at large.<\/p>\n<p>The minister also named other priests implicated in the killings of Tutsi civilians, including Aime\u0301 Mategeko, who organised killings at Hanika Parish; Emmanuel Uwayezu, who murdered Tutsi children at Kibeho Parish; Thadde\u0301e Rusingizandekwe, who joined Interahamwe attacks in Nyakibanda and Karama; and Anaclet Sebahinde.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Rwanda<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. Asking for forgiveness for the role played by some members of the Catholic Church in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi \u201cis a noble legacy that Pope Francis, as the leader of the global Catholic Church, has left behind,\u201d says Jean-Damasce\u0300ne Bizimana, the Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement. Pope Francis [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":100009,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[6892,3572,6891,758],"class_list":["post-100010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-catholic-church","tag-genocide-against-the-tutsi","tag-pope-francis","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bizimana commends Pope Francis \u2018noble legacy\u2019 in Rwanda-Catholic Church ties - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/bizimana-commends-pope-francis-noble-legacy-in-rwanda-catholic-church-ties\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bizimana commends Pope Francis \u2018noble legacy\u2019 in Rwanda-Catholic Church ties\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press &#8211; Rwanda. Asking for forgiveness for the role played by some members of the Catholic Church in the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi \u201cis a noble legacy that Pope Francis, as the leader of the global Catholic Church, has left behind,\u201d says Jean-Damasce\u0300ne Bizimana, the Minister of National Unity and Civic Engagement. 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