Rwanda's Catholic Bishops seeks pardon for Christians involved in genocide

The Rwandan Catholic Bishops Conference has has apologized for the Church’s role in the 1994 genocide in that country.

It had in the past resisted pressure from the government and groups of survivors to acknowledge complicity in the mass murder following the close ties that existed between the Church and the then Hutu regime.

The church which has maintained it did not participate in the killing as an institution has however conceded that some individual members however did take part.

Some survivors have accused priests and nuns of involvement in the murders.

In a statement read in parishes across Rwanda on Sunday, the Conference of Catholic Bishops said: “We apologize for all the wrongs the church committed.”

The statement also expressed regret for the role of church members in planning, aiding and executing the genocide in which over 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu extremists.

The statement by the Bishops Conference is seen as a positive development in Rwanda’s efforts at reconciliation.