Pope Francis has asked for forgiveness for the “sins and failings” of the Catholic Church during the 1994 Rwandan genocide in a meeting with the country’s President Paul Kagame.
A statement from the Vatican said that during a meeting at the Holy See this week, the Pope “conveyed his profound sadness” for the genocide in which some 800,000 people were killed in a three month killing spree as Hutu extremists targeted ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
“He expressed his solidarity with the victims and with those who continue to suffer the consequences of those tragic events and…he implored anew God’s forgiveness for the sins and failings of the church and its members, among whom priests, and religious men and women who succumbed to hatred and violence, betraying their own evangelical mission,” the Vatican said.
According to the statement, the Pope also expressed the desire that “this humble recognition of the failings of that period” which he said “disfigured the face of the church”, may contribute a “future of peace”.
The Catholic Church has previously been criticised for failing to apologise for its role in the genocide which, according to one report, included remaining silent during the killings.
Last year, Rwandan Catholic bishops apologised for “all the wrongs” committed by the church during the genocide.
