ABSTRACT
The Banyarwanda (or Rwandans) believed in Imana—a supreme being that can be translated as “God.” For them, Imana was the creator of all things, the caregiver, the Savior, the Healer, and the Supreme Leader. In precolonial Rwanda, there was a belief that Imana helped bring about the creation of the Kingdom of Rwanda. In the early 1930s, the Catholic Church succeeded in changing Rwanda by overthrowing Mwami (King) Yuhi V Musinga. In the 1940s, the White Fathers carried out large-scale baptisms of Rwandans. During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi genocide perpetrators justified their actions using biblical references which shook all the Christian churches in Rwanda. Christians of all denominations participated in the genocide, including Catholic priests. Since then, Christian churches have been re-examining their role in the Rwanda’s ethnic politics and the dangerous build-up to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. This chapter explores the relationship between Rwanda, Christianity, and its violent past.
