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BURUNDI-TRUTH Oct-4-2005 (740 words) xxxi
Truth process not set, but Burundi's church begins reconciliation
By Evan Weinberger
Catholic News Service
BUJUMBURA, Burundi (CNS) -- The biggest sponsor of soccer matches in Burundi these days is not a beer company or an auto manufacturer, but the Catholic Church.
But the church-backed soccer is not all fun and games: It is a way to help Burundians move past their decades of interethnic killings and war and to develop trust between peoples more used to fighting it out in the bush than on the soccer field.
"It is necessary for the development and the foundations for peace," said Thomas Nijimbere, executive secretary of the Burundian bishops' laity commission and one of the organizers of the sports and cultural program, which also includes dancing and discussions for young people and adults in each parish in Burundi.
Burundi has seen enough tragedy since independence from Belgium in 1962 for a country 10 times its size. At only around 10,000 square miles, Burundi is dwarfed by its neighbors, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. To the north is Rwanda, with which it shares a very similar language and a history of violence between the majority Hutu and minority Tutsi populations. Between 1 million and 2 million people have been killed in ethnic violence since 1972. The 1993-2003 civil war took an estimated 300,000 lives.
Today, most of Burundi is at peace. Former Hutu rebels led by the born-again evangelical Pierre Nkurunziza were swept into power in democratic elections this summer, and all but one rebel movement have laid down their weapons in favor of battling for votes.
Nkurunziza has said that, along with rebuilding the country's schools, roads and other public goods, uncovering the truth of Burundi's history is key to moving his country forward. A truth and reconciliation commission, modeled on South Africa's model, is in the works, and the president said the commission will work only with the cooperation of all Burundi's religious groups.
"Religious leaders will have a great task once the truth and reconciliation commission will be set up," Nkurunziza told church leaders at a Sept. 4 meeting in Bujumbura, Burundi's capital. "It is not easy for someone to confess in public crimes he has committed, but once he is helped by men of God he can confess, then the truth will be known and Burundians will reconcile."
The Catholic Church in Burundi is in a unique position to push along the healing process. About 60 percent of the country's population of more than 6 million is Catholic, with other Christian denominations, traditional African religions and a small but visible Muslim population making up the rest.
After independence, the church provided most of the social support, including health centers and schools, until a military dictator attempted to cut the church out of public life in the mid-1980s. A rapprochement took place in the late '80s and early '90s.
The Catholic Church has "the capacity to help the government in the implementation of different projects," said Karenga Ramadhani, Burundi's minister of communications and information and a Muslim.
The Burundian Catholic Church also does not have the same history during its civil war that its counterpart in Rwanda had during the 1994 genocide. Many of the most notable atrocities during the Rwandan genocide occurred on church property. Several church officials have been convicted of taking part in the killing, and officials as high as the current archbishop of Kigali have faced public questions about their roles in the killings.
The Burundian church, on the other hand, appears to have tried to make peace throughout Burundi's years of war, said Antoine Hasabumutima, editor of the Catholic newspaper Mbenzi in Bujumbura.
That does not mean that all priests tried to bring about peace among their congregations.
"Some priests and bishops were accused of taking sides," Hasabumutima said, adding that those were isolated cases.
The rules for the truth and reconciliation commission have not yet been decided, but a general agreement around a U.N. proposal for a commission of three Burundians and two foreigners has been reached. The role of the church in the truth and reconciliation process is still up in the air as well.
But the church has already started the work. The soccer program began in 2004, with the financial backing of Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' international relief and development agency. Nijimbere said it will continue.
"If they know each other, play football, dance together, they won't fight," he said of Burundi's Hutus and Tutsis.
END
Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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