From the Publisher
In 1994, genocide put Rwanda
on the map for most of the world. It also exposed one of the most shameful
scandals of the Rwandan churches—the complicity of the Christian churches in the
genocide. These are strong words to use when speaking about an institution
committed to preaching and practicing Jesus’ “two great commandments”—Thou shalt
love the Lord your God with your whole heart and mind, and thou shalt love your
neighbor as yourself—and yet, they need to be said. Why? Because Rwanda is the
most Christian country in Africa. More than 90% of its people are baptized
Christians, with the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches having the greatest
number of adherents (65% and 20% respectively).
According to Hugh McCullum, a journalist who has
written about the 1994 genocide, “The genocide shook the very foundation of the
churches: none remained without blood on its hands.”
According to Archbishop Desmond, “The story of Rwanda
shows both sides of our humanity. The churches were sometimes quite superb in
what they did in the face of intimidation and at great cost to themselves. But
there were other times when [they] failed dismally and seemed to be implicated
in ways that have left many disillusioned, disgruntled and angry with the
churches and their leadership, Many have been alienated and feel badly
betrayed.”
What is it that happened in Rwanda between April and
July 1994 that has left so many Rwandans “disillusioned, disgruntled and angry
with the churches and their leadership”?
Genocide in Rwanda: Complicity of the
Churches provides a variety of perspectives through which to assess the
complex questions and issues surrounding the topic, and, even raise some new
questions that could provide some new insight into this historical event.
Contributors have tried to face as carefully, sensitively, and honestly as
possible some of the questions about the Church and 1994 genocide in Rwanda many
have been asking in the media, and in other places as well. For example, Why
were priests ethno-biased? Why did the churches allow clerics to preach
ethno-hatred? Did they? What about the nuns and priests who assisted in the
killing of Tutsis? Did the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope or the Vatican or did
the Church of England — the two Christian denominations with the largest number
of adherents — speak out against them? Did the Church protect, reprimand,
punish, excommunicate their adherents — clergy, religious, and lay — who were
genocidaires before, during, and after the 1994 genocide? Were leaders in the
Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches, at the highest levels, active or passive?
informed or ignorant about what was happening in Rwanda in 1994? Did God have
any witnesses during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda? Has anything changed? Do the
Churches have a moral duty to engage in tikkun olam, healing and repair? If so,
how? If not, why not?
These, are only some of the questions and they are
questions we must ask for the sake of the future. Otherwise, how can the Church,
its members and its leadership, begin to make moral restitution, begin to change
structures and behaviors, and once again reveal the human face of God in our
fragile world?
About the
Authors
Dr. Carol
Rittner RSM (USA), a Roman Catholic nun (Religious Sisters of Mercy),
is Distinguished Professor of Holocaust & Genocide Studies at The Richard
Stockton College of New Jersey. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of
College Misericordia (USA), a member of the Executive of the Aegis Trust (UK),
the Associate Editor of the bi-monthly publication, The Genocide Forum
(USA), and Editor of the quarterly, Perspectives on Genocide (UK). She
has published a number of books, including The Courage to Care: Non-Jews Who
Rescued Jews During the Holocaust (1986), Different Voices: Women and the
Holocaust (1993), The Holocaust and the Christian World (2000),
Pius XII and the Holocaust (2002), and Will Genocide Ever End?
(2002). Her film, The Courage to Care, was nominated for a 1986
Academy Award in the Short Documentary category.
JOHN K.
ROTH is the Edward J. Sexton Professor of Philosophy and Director of
the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights, and
Chair, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies Claremont McKenna College,
where he has taught since 1966. He is the author or editor of more than thirty
books, including Approaches to Auschwitz: The Holocaust and Its Legacy
(with Richard L. Rubenstein), Different Voices: Women and the Holocaust
(with Carol Rittner), and Private Needs, Public Selves Talk about Religion in
America. In 1998, he was named U.S. National Professor of the Year by the
Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Wendy
Whitworth is a staff member of Beth Shalom Holocaust Centre (UK), and
editor of Survival: Holocaust Survivors Tell Their
Story
What People Are Saying
Paul Lyons
This thorough and shocking anthology of essays and documents, skillfully assembled by three distinguished champions of human rights, will be an invaluable supplement to the seminal work of Philip Gourevitch and Samantha Power on the Rwandan genocide of 1994. It raises disturbing but essential questions about the response of Christian churches in a predominantly Christian nation. I recommend it to all those seeking an understanding of this still neglected genocide in East Africa.
—author of The People of This Generation: The Rise and Fall of the New Left in Philadelphia, teaches in the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Douglas K. Huneke
Once again, Christians must examine their role, the role of their churches and the complicity of their ordained leaders in genocide. The authors of these essays do not look away. They offer the compelling and challenging critique demanded by the memory of the victims, the suffering of the survivors, and the work of the generations that must rebuild post-genocide Rwanda. Genocide in Rwanda: Complicity of the Churches cuts to the heart of the matter, to the abuses used to justify crimes against humanity, and is must reading for every prelate and bishop, pastor and seminarian, theologian and human rights advocate concerned with ending once and for all any Christian involvement in genocide, save to actively and consistently resist it.
—author of The Moses of Rovno, and The Stones Will Cry Out: Pastoral Reflections on the Shoah, is the pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church, Tiburon, California.
Anne Elizabeth McLaughlin
Genocide in Rwanda: Complicity of the Churches is the result of a provocative exchange of scholars, journalists, priests, nuns, and human rights activists exploring the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Each essay invites the reader to consider anew the complicity of too many of the Christian churches in that genocide. It makes for sober reading.
—RSM, a Roman Catholic nun, is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at College Misericordia in Dallas, Pennsylvania
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