Clerics around the City of Kigali called on Rwandans to maintain peace and evaluate their 2014 performance if they are to do well in the New Year, 2015.

Various churches that The New Times visited yesterday shared the same message, as Christians attended New Year’s Day prayers.

At Saint Michel Cathedral in Kigali, Monsignor Thadée Ntihinyurwa, the Archbishop of Kigali, said the New Year should be characterised with peace, unity, and prosperity among Christians.

He stressed the essence of the message of Pope Francis, saying churches should avoid complacency in dealing with slavery and human trafficking issues because they ruin the church and the lives of people.

"Churches, clergy, civil society, government and any other player should never sit on their laurels but rather should actively prevent and eradicate slavery, injustice, inequality and selfishness so as to achieve welfare for all creation,” he said.

Bishop Samid Theobald, head of Miracle Centre Church in Rwanda, urged people to follow God’s will.

He said family promotion is the focus of the New Year’s message to the church as there have been cases of family disintegration which call for urgent remedies.

"When a household gets disintegrated, the church and the country are affected because home is the foundation of the church and the country,” he said.

At St. Etienne Anglican Church in Nyamirambo, Rev. Pastor Elisa Mutabazi urged Christians to evaluate and strengthen their relationship with God and humanity for a peaceful country and world.

He noted that success in the New Year requires self evaluation of what went wrong in the past year.

Mutabazi referring to the biblical book of Apostle James 4:8, urged the congregation to make better resolutions while shunning evil and selfish acts. He also called for unity of all Rwandans."Draw near to God and He will draw near to you,” Mutabazi said.

He called on the faithful to start the New Year with clear vision and ideas.

"You may have failed in 2014. That should not stop you from trying one more time in 2015,” Mutabazi added.

Pastor Jeannette Mukamana of Eglise Presbyterienne au Rwanda (EPR), said evaluation time should serve as a genesis to make better resolutions.

Mukamana said working together is a resolution that would bring about unity and collective development of Rwandans.

"Every Christian should belong to a small savings group this year and work with colleagues to achieve bigger economic yields,” she said.

Pope Francis ushered in 2015 on Thursday by launching an appeal for an end to war.

Addressing tens of thousands of pilgrims, at St Peter’s Square, the pontiff marked both the international day of peace and the 2014 centenary of the start of World War I with an impassioned plea for an end to the many conflicts engulfing the planet.

"Let there be no more wars. Peace is always possible but we have to go and look for it,” he said.

What worshippers said 

Alphonse Kananga

In this year, I will evaluate myself. I will find new momentum to achieve bigger goals. I hope to draw closer to God this year.

Dinah Alice Batamuriza, a farmer

I thank God for seeing me through 2014. I resolve to do better in 2015, put right what went wrong and consolidate what I did best.