I think I have already made the comment that I have a really like my job teaching Members of Parliament. I found this story quite unique and beautiful so I have decided to share. I hope he doesn’t mind.
It was a normal class, we’re in the rainy season right now so everyone came in a little late and wet. We had spent some time going over speculation economics and moved to talk about the future of Rwanda and everyone’s outlooks. We took a left turn to religion and how big an impact Christianity has had on Rwanda both good and bad and what it might mean for the future. We talked about how churches are mobilizing to help those in poverty in their villages. We also talked about how many churches are taking the health and wealth approach where people in poverty and those who used to have jobs have come to believe that God will bless them with greater things than what their job can provide. So many have quit their jobs and give everything they have to the church and spend all their days in the church looking for something better. Apparently this topic has kind of tipped the scales here.
As we were heading down this path, I wanted to get their take on a question I have had for a little while. “In many parts of the world, there are many problems between Christians and Muslims coexisting, including my country, I have seen a really peaceful coexistence here and I was wondering what you think are some reasons as to why Rwanda has found peaceful coexistence?”
The first person to weigh in on this question was previously a professor of sociology and anthropology for 17 years at NUR (the best university in Rwanda). This didn’t dawn on me when I threw the question out there but as he neatly organized an articulate answer, his years of university came through.
He started talking about before genocide, that the previous President Habyrimana (killed in infamous plane crash) had very strong Catholic advisors. He also took millions of dollars from the church in influence. In essence the Catholic Church had more control of the state than the officials. This really came through post 1994. There were 2 very popular Catholic priests in Rwanda that had very big congregations and in 1994 they ended up deceiving thousands into what they thought was safety, only to be turned over for slaughter.
As things started to pan out post-genocide, it became clear that these 2 priests were going to be found guilty in the reconciliation trials, the Catholic Church stepped in. Having greater power than the state, the church order the trials to be canceled and these 2 priests released. So they were, and the state couldn’t do anything about it.
This apparently infuriated many as the new government vowed not to allow one part of religion to have such an important role in society.
So since then, the current government has gone to great links to try to balance out different religious groups in the country. This includes Muslims. To summarize, the dominance of one religion or group in the country is often associated with genocide times. From what I’ve seen, everyone is running as far as they can from going back to what happened in 1994, so religious acceptance is part of Rwanda’s new identity.
I find this very interesting and really beautiful. One might expect many Rwandans to be specifically mad at the Catholic Church. This isn’t entirely untrue as the Catholic Church in Rwanda has lost a large portion of its participants but for many they are looking above one religion, they are looking for balance. It could have been any religion to have that influence, that’s why many value and respect other perspectives. Did I mention that the man telling this story is still Catholic?
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