From the 2nd-7th December 2024, a seminar was held in the city of Kagbayi, Rwanda, to promote peace and social friendship in East Africa.
More than fifty members of the Franciscan Family from Rwanda, Uganda, Congo, Kenya, Burundi, South Sudan and Tanzania were present to share about the projects and good initiatives they develop in their countries. Likewise, there were spaces for reflection and training around Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli Tutti.
Fr Theoneste Twahirwa, OFM, Custos of the new Franciscan entity, the Autonomous Custody of Our Lady of Kibeho, in his opening remarks assured that in the “Great Lakes region we continue to receive concerns about various types of insecurity and conflict, threats of war and the growing presence of displaced people and families throughout the region.” In response, Fr. Jean Eric Mutabazi, OFM, JPIC animator of the host Custody and organizer of the meeting, commented that “it is time to raise our voice as Franciscans to contribute to the restoration of peace through dialogue, mediation in conflicts and reconciliation.”
Fr. Daniel N. Rodríguez Blanco and Fr. Taucen Girsang, leaders of the General Office for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation, presented the profile and spirituality of the Franciscan JPIC animator and the Franciscan networks existing in America, the Mediterranean and Asia. They also offered strategies for the development of a JPIC project.
In mid-1994, Rwanda experienced an atrocious genocide against Tutsi that costed the lives of almost a million people. For this reason, the week’s programme included a visit to the memorial of genocide against Tutsi in the city of Kagbayi, built on one of the mass graves where thousands of people were buried and whose reconciliation process included the exhumation and identification of some of the victims’ bodies. The floral decorations placed at the site were a tribute to the victims of that genocide.
With all this discussed, on the last day of work the decision was made to create the Franciscan Network for the Construction of Peace and Ecological Justice in Eastern Africa. A work team was formed to coordinate the development of the nascent network.
Fr. Jean Eric said that this new “Franciscan Network will help us unite and harmonize our voices in a single, strong voice that is heard clearly and reaches further than our smaller and disintegrated voices.”
