Thaddée Nsengiyumva

Mgr. Thaddée Nsengiyumva
Bishop of Kabgayi, Rwanda Motto = "Adveniat Regnum Tuum"
Installed	8 October 1989
Term ended	5 June 1994
Predecessor	André Perraudin
Successor	Anastase Mutabazi
Personal details
Born	(1949-03-17)17 March 1949 Bungwe, Rwanda
Died	5 June 1994(1994-06-05) (aged 45) Gakurazo
Nationality	Rwandan

Thaddée Nsengiyumva (17 March 1949 - 8 June 1994) was the Bishop of Kabgayi in Rwanda. He was killed at Kabgayi during the Rwandan genocide.

Thaddée Nsengiyumva was born at Bungwe on 17 March 1949. He was ordained a priest on 20 July 1975. On 18 November 1987 he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Kabgayi, and he was ordained in this post on 31 January 1988.[1] He became Bishop of Kabgayi on 8 October 1989, succeeding André Perraudin.[2] In December 1991 Nsengiyumva issued a pastoral letter "Convertissons-nous pour vivre ensemble dans la paix. Kabgayi, december 1991, 40pp" in which he said that no serious efforts were being made to resolve the struggle between the Hutu and Tutsi people, and saying that political "assassination is now commonplace".[3] His document was self-critical, saying the church had not done enough to help the people, and had become complicit in the regime's system.[4]

After the genocide began in 1994, Nsengiyumva, who was president of the bishops conference of Rwanda, made repeated appeals to stop the killing.[5] Together with the International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC he tried to assist a lot of war displaced around and into the bishopric. However, on 16 April he issued a letter that was generally thought to support the Hutu government against the Tutsi rebellion.[6] On 5 June 1994 Thaddée Nsengiyumva was murdered at Gakurazo[7] by soldiers of the Rwandan Patriotic Army.[8] The Archbishop of Kigali, Vincent Nsengiyumva and bishop Joseph Ruzindana died with him.[9] Ten priests were also killed. It has been said that Thaddée Nsengiyumva was killed by accident, and the real target was his namesake Vincent Nsengiyumva. This is not plausible, since the two men were killed together.[7]

References

Citations

1. Cheney 2012.
2. Perraudin 2003, p. 69.
3. Peterson 2001, p. 274.
4. Desouter 2007, p. 81.
5. Desouter 2007, p. 89.
6. Coret & Verschave 2005, p. 291.
7. Sibomana & Guilbert 2008, p. 103.
8. Lewis 1994.
9. Desouter 2007, p. 90.

Sources

• Cheney, David M. (5 September 2012). "Bishop Thaddée Nsengiyumva". Catholic Hierarchy. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
• Coret, Laure; Verschave, Francois-Xavier (2005-01-01). L'horreur qui nous prend au visage - L'Etat français et le génocide au Rwanda. KARTHALA Editions. ISBN 978-2-8111-3925-4. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
• Lewis, Paul (June 12, 1994). "June 5–10: New Atrocities in Africa; Three Bishops and 10 Priests Are Slaughtered in Rwanda As Tribal Killings Go On". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
• Desouter, Serge (May 2007). Rwanda le procès du FPR: Mise au point historique. Harmattan. p. 89. ISBN 978-2-296-16303-4. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
• Perraudin, André (2003). "Par-dessus tout la charité": un évêque au Rwanda : les six premières années de mon épiscopat (1956-1962). Editions Saint-Augustin. ISBN 978-2-88011-295-0. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
• Peterson, Scott (2001-09-01). Me Against My Brother: At War in Somalia, Sudan, and Rwanda : a Journalist Reports from the Battlefields of Africa. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-93063-5. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
• Sibomana, André; Guilbert, Laure (2008). Gardons espoir pour le Rwanda: suivi de enquête sur la mort d'André Sibomana, par Hervé Deguine. Harmattan. ISBN 978-2-296-04164-6. Retrieved 2013-03-21.