Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - Made public today was a Message, dated April 3, from the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to Paul Kagame, president of the Republic of Rwanda, for that country's annual day of national mourning to mark the beginning of the 1994 genocide. The anniversary day fell on April 7, Easter Saturday. "I wish to participate," writes the Pope in his Message, "in the national mourning and especially in the prayers for all the victims of that horrendous bloodbath, without distinction of creed, ethnicity or political opinion.".
The Pope recalls that for Christians Holy Saturday is a special day “one of the most important at the liturgical level”, because after the tragedy of Golgotha, followers of Christ wait for the realisation of His words: “I am the resurrection and the life”. For Rwandans too, the Pope writes, this Saturday “will be a most important day, different from any other, because they will commemorate the hundreds of thousands of innocent people who thirteen years ago were victims of the terrible massacres of the genocide ”.
The Holy Father also expresses his hope "that all Rwandans, guided by their civil and religious authorities, commit themselves with greater generosity and effectiveness in favour of national reconciliation and the building of a new country, in truth and justice, in fraternal unity and peace." Benedict XVI concludes his message by affirming that "the Christian faith, which is shared by the majority of Rwandans, if lived coherently and fully, is a real help in overcoming a past of errors and death, the culminating point of which was the 1994 genocide. At the same time, such faith stimulates trust in the possibility offered to all Rwandans, reconciled to one another, to build a better future together, rediscovering the novelty of love which is the only power that can lead to personal and social perfection and orient history towards good."
". (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 22/5/2007, righe 23, parole 351)
