How has Roman Catholicism affected Rwanda?

Answer 1

Although the genocide of 1994, in which an estimated 800,000 people were killed, was the result of ethnic rather than religious tensions, it did have a religious component. The Roman Catholic authorities in Rwanda certainly failed to condemn the genocide at the time, and some in the Church's hierarchy have been tried and convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, as a result of their participation. Kevin Ward (''A World History of Christianity'', Africa) says, "The Church's witness in Africa, in common with all places and times, is rarely unambiguous."

From a lay point of view, the arrival of Christianity did not help prevent the massacre: Ward points out that most of the perpetrators must have been baptised and have had a Christian upbringing.