KIGALI - Christians should use forgiveness as a pillar and weapon to fight enemies, the Archbishop of Kigali Diocese, Thaddée Ntihinyurwa said, yesterday, during Palm Sunday mass.

Archbishop Ntihinyurwa gave the counsel while preaching at St Michael Cathedral in Kigali, where a large congregation convened to celebrate Palm Sunday, and mark the beginning of the holy week that ends on Easter.

The Archbishop noted that it was prudent for the Christians to imitate their Lord Jesus Christ in forgiving their enemies as a way of enhancing cooperation and good relationship among them.

"We should ask ourselves if we are following Jesus, the son of God. Do we forgive as he did to his enemies especially those who tortured him?.” 

"Therefore, we need to provide mechanisms of imitating Jesus Christ for us to obtain good and long lasting lives,” he urged.

Palm Sunday is the day Christians commemorate Christ's triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, when palm branches were placed in His path, before His arrest and Crucifixion on Good Friday

During the celebrations, worshippers waved palm branches as they sang holy songs.

In an interview with The New Times, one of the worshippers, Mujawabera, 60, said that on Palm Sunday, she reflects on the final week of Jesus’ life, when he was suffering.

"During the week, I focus my mind on the last week of Jesus” life, when he was being beaten and tortured. So as his follower, it helps me to clear my ways,” she said.  

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