NEVER AGAIN? : The church & genocide in Rwanda.

Andre Sibomana, a Rwandan Catholic priest, journalist, and human-rights activist who was an outspoken critic of both past and present Rwandan governments, died in March 1998. His book Hope for Rwanda was published in France in 1997. Now translated into English, the book consists of interviews with Sibomana by two French journalists. This excerpt focuses on the role of the Catholic church during the 1994 tribal genocide in Rwanda, largely perpetrated by the majority Hutu against the minority Tutsi. In the aftermath of the killings, the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front defeated Hutu forces and took control of the nation.

Laure Guilbert & Herve Deguine: Some people accuse the church of having actively participated in the ideological preparation of the genocide; others have called into question the behavior of several priests during the killings. Whatever we may think of these accusations, we can't help wonder about the role of the church.

Andre Sibomana: There is no doubt that the Roman Catholic church did not live up to its moral responsibility in the years which preceded the genocide. It's a reality which no one can deny. Actually priests were among the first to denounce this weakness, long before the genocide....

In December 1991, priests from the diocese of Kabgayi published a forty- page document, "Let Us Convert to Live Together in Peace. " In this document, they attacked the passive attitude of the church in the face of "mismanagement of public funds, corruption, social injustice, individual freedoms, the war, and aids." In early 1992, a pastoral letter took up the same arguments and called for a meeting of a national conference. When I received Cardinal Roger Etchegaray [president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace] in May 1993, this is what I said in my speech:

Your Eminence, let me be frank with you: In the context of human-rights violations, the main moral authority in the country, namely the Roman Catholic church, should have made every effort to rectify the situation and revive people's consciences. Instead, it has distinguished itself by its complicit silence and its absence in the most stricken places. The cry of distress of the people of God has not always been heard in time; and with a few exceptions, Roman Catholic officials have lost their credibility because of their complacent attitude toward the state.

As you can see, there was deep unease within the church. A few of us were aware of this and wanted to find a way to go forward. In my capacity as director of Kinyamateka, the church's organ of social communication, I had several clashes with the archbishop of Kigali, Vincent Nsengiyumva, who...had been a member of the MRND central committee [Rwanda's ruling party from 1978 to 1994] and remained a close friend of Juvenal Habyarimana [the MRND leader and Hutu Rwandan president whose assassination precipitated the outbreak of the genocide].

The church did nothing to prevent tragedies which it could have prevented. When the bishops were informed that a genocide was about to happen, when they saw the increase in killings in the period leading up to the genocide-on average five every night-their attitude didn't change. The leaders of the church stood by the government, particularly the bishops of Kigali and Byumba. They failed to react in an appropriate way toward the role of the government in the preparation of the genocide. They should have broken away.

But the church is not just made up of the hierarchy. President Habyarimana, most of the army, most of the judges, ministers, and prefects were Roman Catholics. The fact that society was unable to prevent the catastrophe shows that there was a fundamental breakdown. Christians shouldn't just suffer a situation; they have a responsibility to take control.

Did the church take part in the ideological preparation of the genocide? No, certainly not. The basis for such an accusation is purely political. Rwanda was converted to Roman Catholicism from the top down: The first missionaries started by converting the chiefs-mostly Tutsi-in order to accelerate the conversion of the masses. Until the 1950s, the church relied primarily on the Tutsi elite which provided most of the clergy. Then things changed. For various reasons...Hutu started achieving recognition or assumed a more important place in society. The church played an active role in this process which culminated in the social revolution of 1959. Since then, some circles of Tutsi, who are descendants of those who were ousted at that time, have viewed the Roman Catholic church as a traitor and an enemy and have accused it of supporting what they call "Hutu ideology"-the intellectual movement which campaigned for the liberation of the oppressed Hutu people.

The church did not plan the genocide on an ideological level, but there is no doubt that, as among the politicians, the military, and the United Nations, the weakness of the church's reactions to daily violence prepared people psychologically to accept violence as something normal. It is not a collective or diffuse form of responsibility; each person must examine his or her own conscience. But there's no point in demonizing an institution...it does not help move the debate forward.

Guilbert & Deguine: What was the role of the church during the war and during the massacres?

Sibomana: The church was hit hard by the war, by the genocide, then by the massacres....One of the very first killings of the genocide took place at the Christus Center at Remera on April 7, 1994. Seventeen people were killed, including priests, religious officials, and nuns. Among the victims was the Jesuit father who used to hear Habyarimana's confessions; perhaps this explains the massacre. I also see it as a symbol of the collapse of our country into a barbaric state. Other religious officials were also killed later. In total, 3 bishops, 103 priests, 40 religious brothers, 60 nuns, and countless believers and members of congregations were killed in various circumstances.

As I said, part of the church did not live up to its moral, spiritual, political, or economic responsibility. But another part of the church managed to confront the hardships; it emerged strengthened, and-had there not been such a trail of bloodshed and pain-I would say that it could be proud of its behavior on many occasions, as well as that of its officials and congregations.

I don't accept the generalization which states that the Roman Catholic church participated in the genocide. Because this church-and I say so with the eyes of a believer-is above all a divine institution, a reality which transcends, a place of salvation. It is not the church as such which is called into question, but its members. The church is composed of a hierarchy, which starts from the level of the lay believer and goes right up to the pope. And what did the pope do? Some claim he couldn't do anything. I don't know. The fact is that when Cardinal Etchegaray came to Rwanda, the massacres stopped wherever he went.

Regarding the Roman Catholic clergy, I don't know of any priest who took up a machete to kill. Priests were seen carrying arms. Were they intending to use them to kill or to protect? I don't have the answer. I know one priest who organized training sessions for young people in his parish. Was it sports training or paramilitary preparation? Was he preparing militia or a self-defense guard? What I know is that the same priest protected Tutsi in the major seminary.

The White Fathers [Western missionaries] were present in large numbers in Rwanda. All or most of them left. Did they leave out of cowardice or obligation?...Before you make a judgment-if you think you have the right to make one-you must remember that at that time people were not counting in days, but in hours. No one is obliged to be a hero or to remain a hero for long.

Some believers were weak and irresponsible: They did not weigh the consequences of their actions. I asked one of my parishioners who carried a grenade, "What are you doing?" He replied, "Don't you understand the situation we're in? We'll think about religion later." The killers included believers and nonbelievers, lucid people and people under the effect of drugs; some were acting of their own free will, others because they were forced or terrorized. Among the killers, there were Christians; among the victims too. Many victims felt completely abandoned and probably lost their faith at the fateful moment. But others discovered faith through this tragic experience. Many people died as they sought protection in religious buildings; many more survived by turning toward the people of God. People risked their lives-and often lost them-trying to save their neighbor. They too represent the church.

It makes me indignant when the church is criticized on the basis of the weakness of a few, whereas many others died trying to protect people who were being pursued, or even just staying at their side until the end to testify to their love for Christ....

I have the feeling-which is supported by certain facts-that people attack part of the clergy because it constitutes a counterpower.... Some priests were eliminated-I mean physically eliminated-because they had seen too much or because they knew too much.

Guilbert & Deguine: Since the genocide, has the church-the clergy and the believers-set about examining its own conscience?

Sibomana: I'm not in a position to make a statement about the church overall. But I can describe what happened in my own diocese. Some believers handed me back their baptismal certificates. A number of Tutsi seminarians who survived the genocide gave up their vocation. They still believe in God, but have lost confidence in religious institutions. Many of them now devote their time to relieving the suffering of other survivors. Others still believe, but have stopped coming to church....But there are others whose faith has deepened....

During the period of mourning, which lasted until Christmas 1994, we suspended the administration of sacraments-baptisms, Communions, and weddings-with the exception of the Eucharist....Every parishioner "who knew he had killed" was asked not to receive Communion any more and to come to the confessional to give a full and sincere explanation as to how the sin was committed as well as any mitigating or aggravating circumstances. We have to show an interest in human beings individually and stop treating them en masse.

In the diocese of Kabgayi we set up a special procedure. We created a specific pastoral policy, the "policy of dialogue." Those who wanted to remain in the Roman Catholic church were accepted on condition that each of them stated what they were expecting from religion and expressed, each in their own words, their regrets and the improvements they hoped for....

We were quite far from the intention expressed by some White Fathers, who had come back after the massacres, to rebuild in an identical way, without learning from our failures. That would have been absurd. Of course, we had to bury the dead and build from the ruins. But this couldn't be done as if we were dealing with an earthquake or a hurricane. The hurricane had been inflicted by human hands, and it was human beings, their relatives, their families, and their neighbors who had to be reintegrated into society. Of course, there must be trials and lawful justice. But the law is not enough and will never be enough to rebuild the social fabric. I have been accused of rejecting the justice of the courts by preaching the justice of hearts. But the two are not exclusive. The law must be respected, but it will not conquer the root of evil. We must search for what has failed and find the fiber which is waiting to be revived at the bottom of our souls.

Guilbert & Deguine: From a more personal point of view, did these events ever shake your conscience as a priest or your faith as a believer?

Sibomana: I have never questioned my faith and I have never doubted. But through bloodshed and tears I have discovered that the path of truth is not necessarily a path of happiness. It is not God who makes me question, it is man. God created us as free beings. He is not responsible for what we do with this freedom. He shows us the way; it is not he who makes us stray from it. Some people raise doubts and think that God has abandoned them because they have suffered grave injustices or cruel situations. Many Jews had the same feeling and the same reflections during the Shoah.

Has God abandoned us? I can't answer this question. It is a metaphysical and individual question. As far as I am concerned, as a human being, as a believer, and as a priest, I try to find the right path, to follow it and to lead others along it....

I am convinced that for many, the genocide was a "lapse" along the way. This does not diminish their responsibility in any way, nor does it mitigate the cruelty of what happened. But it's important for the children of those who killed to know that they are not damned and that their future has not been set in stone. If they are careful and if they learn to beware of manipulators, they will not fall into the same traps. Those who [after the genocide] are constantly reiterating on the radio or in newspapers that all Hutu are bad and are killers are seriously endangering the future and are pushing the most fragile to become what they are accused of being.

Guilbert & Deguine: How do you see the future of the church and of Roman Catholicism in Rwanda?

Sibomana: Rwanda has just been through a particularly dark page of its history. It's not the first; we must make sure it's the last.

The attitude of some believers and church officials has been unworthy and quite rightly creates confusion in people's minds. There are many problems for us to overcome, some of them new problems. We have to confront fear, ignorance, and the distrust which has driven people apart. Society has been devastated by poverty, injustice, and a spirit of accusation-not to mention the culture of violence, hatred, and revenge. Disbelief and lies have become widespread. The increase in sects is also a challenge.

But we must not lose hope. I will repeat this again: Men and women have sacrificed their lives to save strangers. They acted in the name of faith, in the name of the message of the gospel which they not only learned but lived through, and for which they paid the highest price. These sacrifices are a sign and a hope. We have initiated a new catechesis which aims at deep conversion, revives the heart, preaches repentance, forgiveness, divine mercy, justice, peace, brotherly love, unity, respect for human life, and the practice of the holy commandments. It's a long-term task. It is easier to turn a man into a killer than to educate him in the faith of God. We need time, but the will is there.

However, I am more pessimistic with regard to the ecclesiastical institution. First of all, as we are talking about reconstruction, I think we need to review completely the training for seminarians. Their training is much too theoretical and dogmatic and cut off from the reality of most Rwandans. Second, the clergy, unfortunately, is very divided. Members of the clergy are politicized and often adopt partisan attitudes. This is very unfortunate.

Last but not least in terms of worries, I have noticed with a certain bitterness a strong continuity in the history of the church. Yesterday, its senior officials colluded with the state. The same thing is happening today. Power has changed hands; the ideology is different, but the attitude of the leaders of the church is the same. Instead of looking after the most destitute-those who are suffering and can't see the light at the end of the tunnel-their eyes are fixed on those who run the country and from whom they expect rewards. Just as before, some church officials are closing their eyes to what is happening in the country....Serious human-rights violations are being committed today....and the church, as an institution, is not reacting. Officials know what is happening, but they can't agree on what attitude to adopt. It is as if they have learned nothing from what we have just lived through.

This article is adapted from Hope for Rwanda by Andre Sibomana: Conversations with Laure Guilbert and Herve Deguine, translated by Carina Tertsakian, Foreword by Alison Des Forges. Originally published in French by Desclee de Brouwer, 1997. Published in English with a postscript by Pluto Press, 1999. Reprinted with the permission of Pluto Press. All rights reserved.