- Opinion
- 15 Aug 01
The holy genocide
EAMONN McCANN reports on detailed, eye-witness claims of the Catholic Church’s involvement in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 – and of the Vatican’s efforts to protect the guilty
On June 8th last, groups campaigning to bring Catholic priests and nuns to trial for mass murder in Rwanda scored a success when a Belgian court sentenced two nuns to long terms in prison for complicity in the killing of up to 7,000 Tutsis in 1994.
After 11 hours deliberation, a jury decided that Sister Gertrude, 42, and Sister Maria Kisito, 36, had joined with Hutu extremists in carrying out the mass slaughter.
Sister Gertrude was sentenced to 15 years, Sister Maria Kisito to 12 years.