DECLARATION ON THE VERDICT AGAINST TWO RWANDAN NUNS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 9, 2001 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls released the following declaration this morning:

"Concerning the sentence pronounced by a Brussels' tribunal regarding Rwandan nuns, Sisters Gertrude Mukangango and Kisito Mukabutera, summoned to trespond to the accusation of war crimes, for the noted events which occurred in Rwanda in 1994, I must recall what the Holy Father said in his Message to the Rwandan people, on May 14, 1996: 'The Church ... cannot be held responsible for the guilt of its members who have acted against the law of the Gospel; they themselves will be called to give account of their actions. All the members of the Church who have sinned during the genocide must have the courage to assume the consequences of the actions taken against God and against neighbor.'

"It is hoped, above all, that the accused persons are able to give their version of the facts and that what has been decided in a foreign country, far from Rwanda, has been sufficiently considered in the context of such violent events and a situation of great confusion.

"In awaiting the final sentence, the Holy See cannot but express a certain surprise in noting that the blame for the responsibilities of many people and groups, also involved in the immense genocide carried out in the heart of Africa, has been placed upon only a few persons."

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