The move by Catholic church leaders in Rwanda in November 2016 to apologize to the Rwandese people and the world in general for the church’s role in the 1994 genocide, which claimed nearly a million people, helped buttress a historical argument: namely, that religion can at times impact negatively on any society’s social, political and economic fabric despite the potential that faith-based organizations have to mediate conflicts.
The Rwandese Catholic church said it was apologizing for “for all the wrongs the church committed and regret[s] that church members violated [their] oath of allegiance to God’s commandments.”
In March 2017, on his visit to Rwanda, Pope Francis “implored anew God’s forgiveness for the sins and failings of the church and its members, among whom [were] priests and religious men and women who succumbed to hatred and violence, betraying their own evangelical mission,” according to a Vatican statement.
Despite the Catholic Church’s failure during the Rwandan genocide, other attempts before and even now in East Africa by various faith-based organizations to intervene in civil strife and lead mediation processes have resulted in peaceful resolution of conflicts.
Countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Gambia, Kenya and Sierra Leone have suffered immensely from civil wars and political conflicts as governments and opposition forces jostled for political power and control of natural resources. In nearly all of these countries, various religious groups, with the support of the All Africa Conference of Churches (A.A.C.C.) and the World Council of Churches (W.C.C.), have partnered with other agencies in brokering peace agreements and preventing escalations of bloody conflicts.
Mozambique
“The A.A.C.C. has worked with its member churches and other stakeholders in conflict resolution and promoting peace in Africa for many years,” says Dr. Andre Karamaga, general secretary of the A.A.C.C., adding that the church in Africa played a vital role, behind the scenes at times, in mediating the end of more than 30 years of a brutal civil conflict in Mozambique, leading to the signing of a peace treaty in 1992.
“The church played a crucial role in convincing [Afonso Dhlakama, the leader of Renamo, the anti-communist guerrilla movement in Mozambique] to come out of the bush and negotiate with the government,” he said.
However, there have been challenges to the Mozambique peace process, as Mr. Dhlakama broke the peace in 2015 after rejecting the results of the country’s 2014 presidential election, won by the ruling government candidate, Armando Guebuza.
Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.)
Similar challenges are being experienced in the Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.), Burundi, Sudan and South Sudan, according to the Rev. Bosela Eale, the A.A.C.C.’s director for peace, diakonia and development. He gave the example of the D.R.C.’s political crisis triggered by President Joseph Kabila’s failure to step down in December 2016 when his second and final term expired after 16 years in office. Mr. Kabila argued that he needed more time in office to oversee the nation’s finances and organize election procedures before stepping down. The country’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission, has also argued it does not have the funds to carry out fresh voter registration or carry out a credible election in 2018.
But opposition groups led by Etienne Tshisekedi (who died in February 2017) rejected Mr. Kabila’s argument and called for protests against the president and his government.
The churches in the D.R.C. were divided on whether Mr. Kabila should step down at the end of 2016. Protestants largely rallied behind Mr. Kabila, who is Anglican, while Catholic leaders (Mr. Tshisekedi was a Catholic) tended to support opposition calls for the president to respect the D.R.C. Constitution, which requires that he step down at the end of his second term.
“The A.A.C.C. took the initiative to talk to both the Protestant and Catholic churches in D.R.C. to impress upon them the need to unite in their prophetic calling and speak in one voice,” said Rev. Eale. The A.A.C.C. mobilized leaders from all D.R.C. religious groups, including Catholics, Protestants and Muslims, as well as envoys from various Western countries and the U.N. Representative in the D.R.C., and took them to Addis Ababa for a meeting on how to resolve the worsening crisis.
“It was after the Addis Ababa meeting that President Kabila gave the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Congo the mandate to lead the talks on how to end the political stalemate and bring about peace,” said Rev. Eale. The Catholic Church has been a key player in the country’s spiritual, cultural and socioeconomic development ever since the time of King Leopold II of Belgium, who operated the country as his personal property. The king relied on the Catholic Church for administrative work in the natural-resource-rich region.
In the modern-day D.R.C., numerous multinational firms are engaged in the mining and supply of a wide range of minerals, making the country one of the most resource-rich but economically underperforming in the world. These firms have been accused of fanning conflict by encouraging the widespread corruption that fuels the exploitation of mineral resources.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference brokered an agreement on Dec. 31, 2016 between the government and the opposition that would have seen Mr. Kabila step down after elections agreed to by both parties were held before the end of 2017.
Monsignor Leonard Santedi Kinkupu, the rector of Kinshasa’s Catholic University and former secretary-general of the bishops’ conference, told Catholic News Service in January 2017 that the fact that the D.R.C. is a largely Catholic country “has given us an advantage over other African states when it comes to seeking peace.”
“The church has always been involved in the work for peace and could use its moral authority to bring about direct negotiations,” he said. “We now have a real chance of sparing our country from further violence, and this is why everyone has welcomed the church’s engagement and offer of hope.”
However, Mr. Kabila did not sign the church-brokered agreement and instead left it to his top party officials and selected government ministers. “Despite the church-brokered agreement, there is clearly a lack of political good will to implement it going forward,” said Rev. Eale.
Weeks after the church-brokered deal, a dispute arose between Mr. Kabila’s party and the opposition on the appointment of the prime minister as provided for in the agreement. The prime minister was to be appointed by Mr. Kabila from members of the opposition, but opposition leaders were split on the exact procedure to be used. Mr. Kabila, with the backing of one faction of the opposition, appointed a prime minister who was rejected by the faction allied to the late Mr. Tshisekedi, triggering a bitter dispute.
After Catholic leaders failed to convince both parties to reach a consensus on the prime minister’s appointment, the bishops announced at the end of March 2017 they were withdrawing from the mediation process. “The bishops’ conference cannot mediate endlessly,” said Archbishop Marcel Utembi Tapa of Kisangani, president of the D.R.C. bishops’ conference, last June. “It will now be up to President Kabila to find quick ways to implement agreement on a national unity government that can lead the country to presidential and parliamentary elections.”
Burundi
Another country where church leaders face the challenge of a lack of interfaith unity in resolving a political crisis is Burundi. President Pierre Nkurunziza triggered this crisis when he maneuvered his way into a controversial third term in office. The resulting political violence has displaced 420,000 people as of April 2018, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
“In Burundi the A.A.C.C. is engaged in uniting the different religious groups so that they are in one accord as they participate in promoting peace in the country,” said Rev. Eale, but Protestants and Catholics are largely supporting opposite sides in the political conflict. “In all conflict situations in the continent we have tried to promote dialogue,” Rev. Eale continued, “which we believe gives the church credibility and stronger influence in the mediation process.”
Kenya
The causes of the conflicts in the D.R.C., Burundi and other nations require patience and a complex mediation process to resolve. However, some church-led mediation processes have been successful, such as the one that led to the end of the 2007-08 post-election violence in Kenya and the healing and reconciliation process thereafter.
According to Mr. Karamaga, the A.A.C.C. and various church organizations mobilized Kenyan elders from communities that were involved in the post-election violence and persuaded them to intervene and stop the chaos that resulted in the killing of more than 1,300 people and the displacement of more than half a million others.
“After a peace was signed ending the violence, we organized a trip to Rwanda for the elders and other community leaders to learn about the 1994 genocide and what could become of Kenya if communities fail to uphold peace and cohesion,” said Mr. Karamaga.
Peace and prosperity
Mr. Karamaga said parties in conflict in Africa have come to accept the role of the church in mediation because in most cases the clergy have demonstrated they are interested in promoting peace and averting violence. For example, in West Africa, the Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone successfully took part in the peace negotiations that led to the signing of the Lome Peace Agreement in May 1999 after almost 10 years of a bloody civil war. The success was possible in part because the religious groups had gained acceptance by both sides in the conflict after showing they were impartial.
In some African countries, there has been relative peace since the warring factions signed agreements to end conflicts. In some others, such as the D.R.C., Burundi and Sudan, early successes are slowly being erased by a lack of political good will, as well as divisions that keep emerging between faith-based organizations involved in the mediation process.
But, as Rev. Eale says, “Without peace, Africa cannot achieve development, and prosperity will remain elusive.”
