Church Politics and the Genocide in Rwanda

Christian churches were deeply implicated in the 1994 genocide of ethnic Tutsi in Rwanda. Churches were a major site for massacres, and many Christians participated in the slaughter, including church personnel and lay leaders. Church involvement in the genocide can be explained in part because of th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of religion in Africa Vol. 31; no. 2; pp. 163 - 186
Main Author Longman, Timothy
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published The Netherlands BRILL 01.01.2001
Brill Academic Publishers
Brill
Brill Academic Publishers, Inc
Subjects
19th-20th century
African Christianity
African history
Catholicism
Christian history
Christian missionaries
Christianity
Church State Relationship
Churches
Ethnic discrimination
General subjects
Genocide
History and sciences of religions
History-Africa-Western and Central Africa
Institutions
Modern period
Political power
Political Violence
Power Elite
Priests
Religion
Religion Politics Relationship
Religious buildings
Religious leaders
Rwanda
Tutsis
Africa
Rwanda
Church
Discrimination
Church-State
Church policy
Responsability
Genocide
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

Abstract Christian churches were deeply implicated in the 1994 genocide of ethnic Tutsi in Rwanda. Churches were a major site for massacres, and many Christians participated in the slaughter, including church personnel and lay leaders. Church involvement in the genocide can be explained in part because of the historic link between church and state and the acceptance of ethnic discrimination among church officials. In addition, just as political officials chose genocide as a means of reasserting their authority in the face of challenges from a democracy movement and civil war, struggles over power within Rwanda's Christian churches led some church leaders to accept the genocide as a means of eliminating challenges to their own authority within the churches.
AbstractList Examines the role of Rwandan Christian churches that were deeply involved in the 1994 genocide of ethnic Tutsi by the Hutu. The historic nature of churches in Rwanda is studied as institutions closely allied with the state & arenas of political struggle, power, & privilege themselves. The churches also played a significant role in the development of Hutu, Tutsi, & Twa ethnic identities through offering the Tutsi, seen as the political elite, educational & employment opportunities above the other groups. Both Catholic & Protestant churches possessed material incentives for attracting converts & thus became centers of power contestations. Overpopulation, poverty, & income inequality created a disaffected population that could be manipulated, & the churches contributed both to democratic political reform & to conservative reaction, including ethnic scapegoating. The genocide was a choice of the modern elite to keep power, & church leaders were sympathetic to the idea of a "Tutsi menace." In light of the Rwandan experience, the struggle to democratize churches that has swept across Africa requires political analysis. L. A. Hoffman
Christian churches were deeply implicated in the 1994 genocide of ethnic Tutsi in Rwanda. Churches were a major site for massacres, and many Christians participated in the slaughter, including church personnel and lay leaders. Church involvement in the genocide can be explained in part because of the historic link between church and state and the acceptance of ethnic discrimination among church officials. In addition, just as political officials chose genocide as a means of reasserting their authority in the face of challenges from a democracy movement and civil war, struggles over power within Rwanda's Christian churches led some church leaders to accept the genocide as a means of eliminating challenges to their own authority within the churches.
Discusses the role Christian churches played in the 1994 genocide of ethnic Tutsis in Rwanda. Notes that churches were a major site for massacres. States that many Christians, including church leaders, participated in the slaughtering of the Tutsi people. Explains the genocide in terms of the historic link between church and state in Rwanda and the acceptance of ethnic discrimination among church officials. Argues that power struggles within the churches led some church leaders to accept genocide as a way to eliminate challenges to their authority.
Author Longman, Timothy
Author_xml – sequence: 1
  givenname: Timothy
  surname: Longman
  fullname: Longman, Timothy
BackLink http://pascal-francis.inist.fr/vibad/index.php?action=getRecordDetail&idt=1165772$$DView record in Pascal Francis
BookMark eNp90E1rGzEQBmAREoiT9NzrQkMOhW1G0mq0ewymdZu69IO05CZkWYvlbqREkmn77yNjEwdDehKMnpFe3hNy6IO3hLym8I5S5JdUSABEoLcAlLIDMlpP6jLCQzICYKxuGMAxOUlpCcVIJkbk7XiximZRfQuDy86kSvt5lRe2mlgfjJvbyvnqx58y1WfkqNdDsq-25yn5-eH9zfhjPf06-TS-mtYz3nS5NtZKKmhLAWYUbSd533cdR961jWEoNRUG2awpl13fYYNGaouynfNuDob2_JRcbN69j-FhZVNWdy4ZOwza27BKCgEZUGwKfLMHl2EVfcmmmGixBWykKOp8q3Qyeuij9sYldR_dnY7_VOlOSMkKu9wwE0NK0fY7AWvE1V7BZUPsbRiXdXbB56jd8J-9baBlyiE-_4ZxkIW3pb517nrDXMr27xPT8bdCyaVQ159v1Jdmcv19MhXq187PohuGXRUvxXgEZHKjPA
CODEN JRAFF2
CitedBy_id crossref_primary_10_29333_ejecs_110
crossref_primary_10_3390_rel15020191
crossref_primary_10_1080_08039410_2012_732109
crossref_primary_10_1017_gov_2023_39
crossref_primary_10_3390_rel9020034
crossref_primary_10_1080_01639625_2021_1983738
crossref_primary_10_1111_nbfr_12149
crossref_primary_10_2139_ssrn_4802156
crossref_primary_10_4000_eces_677
crossref_primary_10_5897_AJHC2021_0529
crossref_primary_10_1017_S0022278X07002650
crossref_primary_10_1017_S0009640714000080
crossref_primary_10_1080_14678802_2020_1862495
crossref_primary_10_12797_Poliarchia_03_2015_04_03
crossref_primary_10_1017_S0001972014000023
crossref_primary_10_1080_1462352042000194692
crossref_primary_10_24833_2541_8831_2023_3_27_52_66
crossref_primary_10_1111_rec3_12379
crossref_primary_10_1017_S0022278X11000279
ContentType Journal Article
Copyright 2001 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
Copyright 2001 Koninklijke Brill NV
2001 INIST-CNRS
Copyright_xml – notice: 2001 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
– notice: Copyright 2001 Koninklijke Brill NV
– notice: 2001 INIST-CNRS
DBID BSCLL
AAYXX
CITATION
IQODW
7UB
DOI 10.1163/157006601X00112
DatabaseName Istex
CrossRef
Pascal-Francis
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
DatabaseTitle CrossRef
Black Studies Center
Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
DatabaseTitleList Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

Black Studies Center
DeliveryMethod fulltext_linktorsrc
Discipline Religion
History & Archaeology
EISSN 1570-0666
0022-4200
EndPage 186
ExternalDocumentID 1165772
10_1163_157006601X00112
1581515
ark_67375_JKT_M4GJQGL5_V
GeographicLocations Africa
Rwanda
GeographicLocations_xml – name: Rwanda
GroupedDBID .4H
.EH
.Z0
0R~
29L
2AX
3Q-
4.4
5GY
5VS
63Z
AABLI
AACJB
AACLR
AAEEA
AAJYU
AAOGP
AAOTM
AAPTG
AAUHC
AAZQE
ABAWQ
ABBHK
ABCQX
ABDBF
ABGZZ
ABJNI
ABKTN
ABMJE
ABNTP
ABOHM
ABUBZ
ABXFW
ABXSQ
ACGFS
ACHJD
ACHJO
ACIOK
ACNQH
ACREJ
ACRZY
ACUGF
ACUHS
ACVUQ
ACWTZ
ACYFV
ADCZD
ADIZZ
ADMHG
ADPLR
ADPVW
ADULT
ADURN
AEALX
AEASU
AEDUL
AEKJW
AEUPB
AEVUW
AEZFH
AFFNX
AGQGS
AGQPQ
AGRND
AHNKD
AHRRD
AHTSF
AHYGR
AIMQZ
AJGPC
AJUIR
AKMEM
ALJKW
ALMA_UNASSIGNED_HOLDINGS
AMBTB
AMFWP
ANTOP
AOGPY
ASPBG
AS~
AVWKF
AZFZN
AZXEI
BBTKD
BGHKT
CAG
CNBZG
COF
CS3
DU5
DZSEV
EAP
EAS
EAT
EBS
ECVKH
EHI
EJD
EMK
EPATI
EPL
ESX
EXF
E~D
F.3
F0L
F5P
FEDTE
GDORO
HGD
HMHOC
HVGLF
HYQOX
HZ~
H~9
IL9
IPSME
IY5
JAAYA
JAT
JBMMH
JBZCM
JENOY
JHFFW
JKQEH
JLEZI
JLXEF
JPL
JST
KAT
KOBVO
KWM
KWN
L7B
LIQON
MM1
MVM
O-F
O9-
P2P
Q5E
R4W
R4Y
RLCXB
RNI
ROL
RZC
RZD
S7E
SA0
TN5
UBC
VG3
X4A
YQT
~45
~FV
~OT
~OU
~OV
~OW
~PK
~PM
~PS
AAVOK
AAXJT
ABEFS
ACMRT
ADACV
ADOBN
AFJGT
AHZXP
AIROO
BSCLL
JSODD
VQA
AAYXX
CITATION
PMKZF
PVKVW
AEBYS
AQCKC
IQODW
KC5
7UB
AABAK
ID FETCH-LOGICAL-b349t-cee71518100b16e973ff99363984c267a15c62b4b169f9646c7ae678d39d0c1f3
ISSN 0022-4200
IngestDate Tue Aug 05 10:36:14 EDT 2025
Sun Jun 29 16:20:35 EDT 2025
Mon Jun 17 07:08:01 EDT 2024
Tue Jul 01 02:25:58 EDT 2025
Thu Apr 24 22:52:36 EDT 2025
Thu Jul 03 21:21:40 EDT 2025
Wed Oct 30 09:49:07 EDT 2024
Wed Apr 30 05:25:32 EDT 2025
IsPeerReviewed true
IsScholarly true
Issue 2
Keywords Church
Discrimination
Church-State
Church policy
Responsability
Genocide
Language English
License CC BY 4.0
LinkModel OpenURL
MergedId FETCHMERGED-LOGICAL-b349t-cee71518100b16e973ff99363984c267a15c62b4b169f9646c7ae678d39d0c1f3
Notes href:15700666_031_02_s004_text.pdf
istex:BA2D73B68EECC7E8A7122DC4EC8C781DA3482D8A
ark:/67375/JKT-M4GJQGL5-V
ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 14
ObjectType-Article-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
PQID 2586806475
PQPubID 5222961
PageCount 24
ParticipantIDs proquest_miscellaneous_60620164
proquest_journals_2586806475
pascalfrancis_primary_1165772
crossref_primary_10_1163_157006601X00112
crossref_citationtrail_10_1163_157006601X00112
jstor_primary_10_2307_1581515
istex_primary_ark_67375_JKT_M4GJQGL5_V
brill_journals_10_1163_157006601X00112
ProviderPackageCode CITATION
AAYXX
PublicationCentury 2000
PublicationDate 2001-01-01
PublicationDateYYYYMMDD 2001-01-01
PublicationDate_xml – month: 01
  year: 2001
  text: 2001-01-01
  day: 01
PublicationDecade 2000
PublicationPlace The Netherlands
PublicationPlace_xml – name: The Netherlands
– name: Leiden
PublicationTitle Journal of religion in Africa
PublicationTitleAlternate JRA
PublicationYear 2001
Publisher BRILL
Brill Academic Publishers
Brill
Brill Academic Publishers, Inc
Publisher_xml – name: BRILL
– name: Brill Academic Publishers
– name: Brill
– name: Brill Academic Publishers, Inc
SSID ssj0001725
Score 1.6365579
Snippet Christian churches were deeply implicated in the 1994 genocide of ethnic Tutsi in Rwanda. Churches were a major site for massacres, and many Christians...
Discusses the role Christian churches played in the 1994 genocide of ethnic Tutsis in Rwanda. Notes that churches were a major site for massacres. States that...
Examines the role of Rwandan Christian churches that were deeply involved in the 1994 genocide of ethnic Tutsi by the Hutu. The historic nature of churches in...
SourceID proquest
pascalfrancis
crossref
jstor
istex
brill
SourceType Aggregation Database
Index Database
Enrichment Source
Publisher
StartPage 163
SubjectTerms 19th-20th century
African Christianity
African history
Catholicism
Christian history
Christian missionaries
Christianity
Church State Relationship
Churches
Ethnic discrimination
General subjects
Genocide
History and sciences of religions
History-Africa-Western and Central Africa
Institutions
Modern period
Political power
Political Violence
Power Elite
Priests
Religion
Religion Politics Relationship
Religious buildings
Religious leaders
Rwanda
Tutsis
Title Church Politics and the Genocide in Rwanda
URI http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/157006601x00112
https://api.istex.fr/ark:/67375/JKT-M4GJQGL5-V/fulltext.pdf
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1581515
https://www.proquest.com/docview/2586806475
https://www.proquest.com/docview/60620164
Volume 31
hasFullText 1
inHoldings 1
isFullTextHit
isPrint
link http://utb.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/link/0/eLvHCXMwnV1bb9MwFLaglRAvCMYQZRv4AVUIKSN2HCd53GDtVLohUIr6ZsWOM01UKWo7jfHrOY7jpF2ZuLxEVXxJ6s-Xz84530HoNWPSLxKqPFJI7bEs1GbMaU_FBddBHlG_MM7JZ-f8dMJG03Daih5V3iUreah-_tav5H9QhXuAq_GS_Qdkm0rhBvwGfOEKCMP1rzC2oZycDduysYYc6hLaPK_0QL5cZ27Xvc1BF84g2Zx6VBGDGgOdeXlRH47WcG6cD5C184HWXp9ZPdBmzgvIGrZ0bQIj9XRj10JiZaq3p1lu5B6I0cbnsKObGmJJ2xXFfUU__yQGk_FYpCfT9D7qUmDytIO6R8cfjgfNcgkMKnSS7uY1a_0leMS7Ww-A_YNcXM5mGxSia0bDD2dNakxbsyX07sKGJdlaYSvakD5Gj-q2xkcWvCfoni530K4VZ7nBfWyUf7MquvLNDnrgDMSforcWW-ywxYAiBmyxwxZflthiu4smg5P0_alXx7XwZMCSlQe8JAKiFRPfl4TrJAqKAmgicMWYKcqjjISKU8kgMSkSzriKMg2kIg-S3FekCJ6hTjkv9XOEQw1zqNIwsCQDKphLKJDEhOcRyZVmtIf6VZOJutcuRbXp44G41bY9dOjaVKhaHd4EKZndXeBNU-C7FUa5O2u_AqnJly2-GXvCKBSjj6k4Y8PR5-E4FF976KBCcb1C46gAFcaGeEP6BrptPsJD6Fw9tO_Qbv8wDWMeG5dqKP6qSYZJ1HwZy0o9v1oK2MVTozX34o859tDDdpDto85qcaUPgJau5Mu6Y_8Ci_qDeg
linkProvider EBSCOhost
openUrl ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Church+Politics+and+the+Genocide+in+Rwanda&rft.jtitle=Journal+of+religion+in+Africa&rft.au=Longman%2C+Timothy&rft.date=2001-01-01&rft.issn=0022-4200&rft.volume=31&rft.issue=2&rft.spage=163&rft.epage=186&rft_id=info:doi/10.1163%2F157006601X00112&rft.externalDBID=NO_FULL_TEXT
thumbnail_l http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/lc.gif&issn=0022-4200&client=summon
thumbnail_m http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/mc.gif&issn=0022-4200&client=summon
thumbnail_s http://covers-cdn.summon.serialssolutions.com/index.aspx?isbn=/sc.gif&issn=0022-4200&client=summon