The christian churches, the State and genocide in Rwanda

The churches in Rwanda have exercised considerable political influence during both

the colonial and post-colonial periods. Although formally autonomous institutions

subordinate to the state, in actuality they have cultivated political influence through

their religious teachings and secular role as the loci of material and social resources.

However, there is at least one key factor, which has contributed to their fluctuating

political influence within Rwanda. During the colonial period, the dominant Catholic

Church functioned within a colonial regime of indirect rule, predicated on sustaining

the political authority of a Tutsi-dominated Central Court presiding over the territories

roughly contiguous with the present-day republic. This threefold division of power

and authority acted as a brake upon the hegemonic ambitions of the Church, the

royal house and the colonial administrators. Following the abolition of the monarchy

in 1961, the structure of political power and authority of the state was fundamentally

transformed, clearing the way for the emergence of a ‘state church’ whose political

role in the two Hutu dominated post-colonial republics would have significant historical implications. In this essay, I argue that it was this structural transformation of the

Rwandan polity - marking the shift from a trilateral to a dual relationship between

state and Church -, which contributes to our understanding of how the Church

became embroiled in the mass violence and genocide in the twentieth century

Rwandan polity