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Rwanda's Genocide and the Leadership Crisis in the Rwandan Anglican Church
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 November 2023
Abstract
The 1994 Rwandan genocide transformed the leadership of the Anglican Church in a way that mirrored the ethnic divides that had precipitated the genocide itself. This transition was effected through a church conflict that unfolded in the midst of a cataclysmic civil war. Understanding the nature of the conflict and leadership transition illuminates the way in which African church identity is constructed as a result of an interplay between local, regional and global actors. The post-genocide conflict in the diocese of Kigali is studied at particular length to indicate the ways in which these actors each sought position and influence.
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References
1 In the period considered in this paper, the official name of the Church was L’Église Episcopale au Rwanda. It has since changed its named to Province de l'Église Anglicane au Rwanda. In this paper, I often refer to the Church, in English, as the Rwandan Anglican Church or the Anglican Church in Rwanda.
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9 Adonia Sebununguri to Samuel Van Culin, secretary-general of the Anglican Communion, 18 Sept. 1993, DKA, vol. lx. The Anglican Diocese of Kigali maintains an archive at its offices, which I visited in June 2016. References are to the volume in which the item is found. No further referencing is given in the archive itself.
10 Sebununguri to Augustin Nshamihigo, 7 Sept. 1993, ACOA. The Anglican Communion Office archive in London lacks a central catalogue. References in this paper follow the conventions of the archive and are to the folder in which the document is found. They are as specific as those conventions permit.
11 Nshamihigo to Van Culin, 19 Sept. 1993, ACOA.
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25 Innocent Butare to George Carey, 28 Apr. 1995, ibid.
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32 Ibid. 12.
33 Ibid.
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40 Birney, report to Peterson, 3, provinces: Rwanda, ACOA.
41 Jean de la Croix Taboro, ‘What clerics know about a colleague's role in genocide’, New Times: Rwanda's Leading Daily, 2 Mar. 2014.
42 Ruhumuliza to Onesphore Rwaje, 12 Mar. 1997, 4, Bishop Ruhumuliza, ACOA.
43 Ruhumuliza to all bishops in Rwanda, 20 Nov. 1996, ibid.
44 Ruhumuliza to Rwaje, 12 Mar. 1997, 3, ibid.
45 Ibid. 4.
46 Ruhumuliza to Carey, 15 Sept. 1996, ibid.
47 Ruhumuliza to President Pasteur Bizimungu, 6 Feb. 1996, ibid.
48 Ruhumuliza to Pie Mugabo, Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, 12 Feb. 1996, ibid.
49 Ruhumuliza to Carey, 15 Sept. 1996, ibid.
50 Ruhumuliza to Bizimungu, 6 Feb. 1996, ibid.
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53 Ruhumuliza to Rwaje, 12 Mar. 1997, 10, Bishop Ruhumuliza, ACOA.
54 ‘Testimony of Revd. W. Rugambage’, 2, visits to Rwanda, ACOA.
55 Cavender to Carey, 1 Mar. 1996, 2, ibid.
56 ‘A statement from the desk of the bishop of Kigali diocese, the Rt. Revd. Jonathan Ruhumuliza’, 30 May 1996, Bishop Ruhumuliza, ACOA.
57 Mugabo to Prime Minister, 19 Feb. 1997, ibid.
58 Ruhumuliza open letter, 1 Mar. 1997, ibid.
59 Michael Peers fax to Peterson, 21 Jan. 1997, provinces: Rwanda, ACOA.
60 Peterson to Ruhumuliza, 20 May 1997, Bishop Ruhumuliza, ACOA.
61 Rwaje to Emmanuel Kolini, early June 1997, ibid.
62 Ruhumuliza to Peterson, 8 May 1997, 3, ibid.
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68 Andrew Kayizari to Carey, 17 Oct. 1997, ibid.
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71 Cantrell, Revival and reconciliation, 141.
72 Idem, ‘The Anglican Church of Rwanda: domestic agendas and international linkages’, Journal of Modern African Studies xlv/3 (2007), 333–54.
73 Idem, Revival and reconciliation, 166–8.
74 See, for instance, Chris McGreal, ‘Rwanda priest [sic] in UK faces probe over allegations of role in 1994 genocide’, Observer, 15 Feb. 2014, and Chris McGreal and Harriet Sherwood, ‘Church welcomes back Rwandan bishop accused of defending genocide’, Observer, 31 May 2020.
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