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Discussion » Questions » Religion and Spirituality » In the civil war in Rwanda, were Tutsi's persecuted because they were mostly Catholic?

In the civil war in Rwanda, were Tutsi's persecuted because they were mostly Catholic?

Posted - June 11, 2017

Responses


  • 10029
    From what I've seen and read, it was mostly an ethnic conflict. Pope Francis has recently apologized and asked forgiveness for the catholic church's role in the genocide, as the church was close to the Hutu government and aided and protected clergy who participated in the killings, allowing them to flee to Europe and start new lives. 
      June 11, 2017 8:45 AM MDT
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  • 2657
    Thank you for your answer. If Hutu's and Tutsi's were both mostly Catholic, how could they have murdered each other? I can't wrap my head around it.

    (John 13:34, 35) I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are my disciples—if you have love among yourselves.”
      June 12, 2017 3:16 AM MDT
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  • 10029
    I think it's more surprising when war isn't about religion.

    I think that if more Christians practiced that commandment, there would be fewer people turned off by the hypocrisy of the religion. It appears that for most, it's like every other commandment; people act as if there's an asterisk that states "unless it's not convenient or you find it bothersome".  
      June 12, 2017 8:20 AM MDT
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  • 46117
    No.   The Hutus wanted to take over.  Period. 

    If you were not Hutu and you were Tsutsi you were murdered outright.  If you aided them at all, you were murdered outright.

    All in the name of an ethnic "cleansing". 

    LEFT TO TELL:

    Immaculee Ilibagiza grew up in a country she loved, surrounded by a family she cherished. But in 1994 her idyllic world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide. Immaculee’s family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans.

    Incredibly, Immaculee survived the slaughter. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor while hundreds of machete-wielding killers hunted for them.

    It was during those endless hours of unspeakable terror that Immaculee discovered the power of prayer, eventually shedding her fear of death and forging a profound and lasting relationship with God. She emerged from her bathroom hideout having discovered the meaning of truly unconditional love—a love so strong she was able seek out and forgive her family’s killers.

    The triumphant story of this remarkable young woman’s journey through the darkness of genocide will inspire anyone whose life has been touched by fear, suffering, and loss. This post was edited by WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH at June 12, 2017 3:14 AM MDT
      June 11, 2017 8:47 AM MDT
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  • 2657
    Thank you for your answer and the story about Immaculee  Ilibagiza.
      June 12, 2017 3:18 AM MDT
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  • 500
    That genocide was tribal. If not Hutu then you had to go. Killing was the only choice. Amazing how the world stood by and let that happen.
      June 11, 2017 8:51 AM MDT
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  • 46117
    How about the people INVOLVED standing by and killing their next-door neighbors, beloved teachers, etc., because they were told they had to now HATE them and KILL them?   That is the most amazing thing of all.
      June 11, 2017 8:54 AM MDT
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  • 500
    That was history repeating itself. Hitler did the same thing.
    In the 1800's the black Hatians  killed all white people on the island. Just to get rid of them.

    Humans have not changed in it's history. Great ability for good and evil.
      June 11, 2017 8:57 AM MDT
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  • 46117
    I agree.  It is totally terrifying.  I don't know what is scarier, that it happened or the fact that it could happen again. 
      June 11, 2017 9:06 AM MDT
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  • 500
    It is happening now with ISIS.
      June 11, 2017 9:08 AM MDT
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  • 46117
    Not even close.  ISIS is not my next-door neighbor whom I maybe went shopping with.

    ISIS is an unknown terrorist group from afar that amounts to a band of jackals waiting to cause chaos and disorder whenever they can.

    ISIS can be amazingly destructive, but they are not similar to Rwanda's ethnic cleansing.  That would be more Hitler's territory.

    Look to your President for the next cleansing.  He will tell everyone IT'S ISIS!!!!  IT'S ISIS, so we can look under every rock and blame our neighbor for being a member OF ISIS.

    That is more Trump's sick style.
      June 12, 2017 6:39 AM MDT
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  • 32527
    You don't see ISIS killing other Muslims because they are a different sect, as the same thing?
      June 12, 2017 10:46 AM MDT
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  • 16197
    Tribal. The Hutus are also mostly Catholic.
      June 11, 2017 6:38 PM MDT
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  • 2657
    Would you say that they are Christ disciples?
    (John 13:34, 35) I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are my disciples—if you have love among yourselves.”
      June 11, 2017 8:12 PM MDT
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  • 16197
    No more - or less - than any other denomination. Religious freedom is inversely proportional to the size of the dominant religion, that's universal, and the Word has been twisted and/or selectively quoted to justify atrocities for as long as it has existed.
    Islam is also being endlessly perverted, "Whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he had slain mankind entirely" (HQ 5:32). You could discuss that with Clurt, I don't claim to be an expert on the Qur'an - unlike the Bible, I can't read it in the original (I know Koine Greek and can puzzle out Hebrew, but I don't know any Arabic).
      June 11, 2017 8:22 PM MDT
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  • 2657
    So then this is meaningless?
    John 13:35  By this all will know that you are my disciples—if you have love among yourselves.”
      June 11, 2017 8:38 PM MDT
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  • 46117
    texas, no one SAID they were Christ's anything.  They are miscreants who called themselves Catholic.

    Just like ISIS calls themselves MUSLIMS.  How do you LIKE it when the finger is pointed YOUR way. 
      June 12, 2017 6:40 AM MDT
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  • 2657
    There's a bunch of fingers pointed my way. That's why I asked the question.
      June 12, 2017 6:47 AM MDT
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  • 46117
    Well.  I am a devotee of Satya Sai Baba. That is my belief system.  IF there were a bunch of Sai Baba Devotees who killed their neighbors it does not affect Satya Sai Baba.  That action of that murdering horde does not speak against my beliefs.  IT speaks against THEIRS.   They turned against GOD, not me.

    So, no fingers need to be pointed at you for being Catholic, unless you take up a machete and start hacking people to death yourself.

    Christ has zero to do with these godless pigs. This post was edited by WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH at June 14, 2017 5:22 AM MDT
      June 12, 2017 6:50 AM MDT
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  • Catholics/Catholicism Christ's disciples? I'm thinking not. John 13:34, 35. Two of the many good verses describing true disciples of Messiah. 
      June 25, 2017 1:02 PM MDT
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  • 1393

    In the civil war in Rwanda, were Tutsi's persecuted because they were mostly Catholic?

    ================================================================

    1- Rwandans are ethnically mainly Hutus and Tutsis with the Hutus being the majority.

    2- Islam was first introduced into Rwanda by Muslim traders from the East Coast of Africa in the 18th/19th century. Both, Hutus and Tutsis, who came across the religion embraced it in equal numbers and at nearly 5% of the population it is the largest minority religion in the country.

    3- Many European missionaries who arrived in Rwanda to prepare the ground for colonization saw Islam as a threat. The Roman Catholicism, brought to Rwandans during colonisation of the country by the Belgians in the late 19th century, is the largest religion in the country. The church leadership was closely linked to the colonial leaders, and therefore this anti-Muslim sentiment became codified in discriminatory policies. In 1960, the former government minister Sebazungu ordered the burning of the Muslim quarter and the mosque in Rwamagana. Following this event, Muslims were terrified and many of them fled to neighbouring countries. It is alleged that the Catholic Church was involved in these events, which aggravated the bitterness between the Muslims and Christians of that country.

    4- The 1994 conflict in Rwanda was ethnic in which militias from the majority Hutus, who were Catholics, sought out to eliminate the Tutsis, who were also Catholics. Within a few months nearly 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis were mowed down primarily with machetes. However, the Hutus and Tutsis that comprised the Muslim population of Rwanda did not get involved in the ethnic genocide. The Hutus here actually protected Tutsi Muslims and non-Muslims. It was the Muslim Rwandans who were later called upon by the president of the country to “teach other Rwandans how to live together.”
      June 21, 2017 9:02 AM MDT
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  • 2657
    Thanks for that. Other than Hutu Muslims also protecting non-Muslim Tutsi, I was aware of all of this part:
    [4- The 1994 conflict in Rwanda was ethnic in which militias from the majority Hutus, who were Catholics, sought out to eliminate the Tutsis, who were also Catholics. Within a few months nearly 800,000 people, mostly Tutsis were mowed down primarily with machetes. However, the Hutus and Tutsis that comprised the Muslim population of Rwanda did not get involved in the ethnic genocide. The Hutus here actually protected Tutsi Muslims and non-Muslims.]


      June 21, 2017 9:49 AM MDT
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