The Perraudins of this world are still lurking in the dark

Editor, RE: “Humanity: United we shall stand, divided we shall perish” (The New Times, October 13). That was and still is our number one mistake: embracing Catholicism knowing what an evil institution it has always been. Archbishop André Perraudin even had the audacity, years later, when interviewed, to say that it was his “duty” to speak on social ills plaguing Rwandan society at the time. Conveniently omitting to mention the fact that the Christian Church, while collaborating with Belgian administration, had just spent nearly 60 years fueling the same divisions and hatred he claimed to be addressing. He, for example, disingenuously avoided to mention that King Rudahigwa (whom they forcibly put in place after his father refused to convert to Catholicism) constantly tried to reverse decades of deliberate classicism performed by the then Belgian Resident, by appointing “Hutu” officials and that every time the Resident refused to add his signature authorising such appointments and since the Resident had the final word on any ruling by the King, those appointments never saw the light of day. So for Perraudin to feign indignation and pretend that he was speaking up as any “good Christian” would is an egregious twist of history to say the least. Well, now we know that the Perraudins of this world are still lurking in the dark waiting for an opportunity to strike again. We must stay vigilant for future generations’ sake! Ali Rukariza

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The Perraudins of this world are still lurking in the dark