Subject: Anthropology
Title: The role of the Catholic Churches in the genocide of Rwanda Thesis Statement: There is historic evidence of the Catholic Churches being responsible for the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives of nearly a million and this demands the church to accept responsibility and make amends Introduction:
This paper is objectively aimed at presenting the issue of the Rwandan Genocide and the role of the church in this gruesome massacre. The preaching of Christianity professes brotherhood and love and violence of any kind does not find its place in Biblical literature and practice. History is witness to the fact that the genocide in Rwanda claimed the lives of millions and has scarred the survivors for life. It has been proven beyond doubt that the church authorities were responsible for creating racist ideologies in the minds of the Rwandan population over a period spanning several decades which led to the eventuality of the creation of ethnic groups’ i.e. the Tutsi and the Hutu. The ideologies based on racism led to intensification of the hatred and dissention between the groups thereby leading to several massacres right up to the 1994 genocide. Later on post the genocide, the church did exclaim guilt and repentance for having been instrumental in causing the genocide. Is it acceptable that after a genocide that claims the lives of nearly a million, an expression of guilt and repentance would undo the harm done? Would this act restore faith of man in the institution of the church?
For better comprehension, this essay presents a sequence of events that led to the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 and the happenings after it mostly in context of the role played by the church. The angle of analysis has been undertaken to put forth the fact that man has been time and again been influenced in the name of religion into committing acts of