Church and State in Rwanda: Catholic Missiology and the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi.

During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, over one million Tutsis were killed by the government of Rwanda and Hutu extremists, namely the interahamwe, a civilian militant group trained and equipped by the pre-genocide government of Rwanda’s army.19 It is estimated that in 1994 as many as 90 percent of the Rwandan population was Christian with 62.6 percent identifying as Catholic, 18.8 percent identifying as Protestant, and 8.4 percent identifying as Seventh Day Adventist.20 According to African Rights, “‘more Rwandese died in churches and parishes than anywhere else’” during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.21 In one of the most heavily Christianized nations in Africa, where was the Church during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda?22 In what ways, if any, did the Church, as an institution, contribute to or fail to address the factors that led to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda?