VATICAN CITY (CNS): The Vatican said all Rwandan Catholics involved in the African country’s 1994 genocide “must have the courage to assume the consequences”.
The call came after a Belgian jury sentenced two Rwandan nuns to prison for taking part in the genocide.
At the same time, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls expressed surprise at the June 8 sentencing, saying the nuns were being singled out for punishment.
A 12-member jury found Benedictine Sisters Gertrude, 42, and Maria Kisito, 36, both ethnic Hutus, and two men, guilty of homicide.
The nuns were accused of helping Hutus slaughter thousands of Tutsis during the country’s genocide and were sentenced to prison terms of 15 and 12 years respectively.
“The Holy See cannot but express a certain surprise at seeing the grave responsibility of so many people and groups involved in this tremendous genocide in the heart of Africa heaped on so few people,” said Mr Navarro-Valls.
Quoting a 1996 papal message to Rwandans, he said the Church “cannot be held responsible for the sins of its members”, and Catholics who did wrong should be called to account as individuals.
