Fr. Jean Bosco Gakirage is a member of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus Heart of Jesus can refer to: The Sacred Heart of Jesus as an object of religious devotion Church of Jesus Heart, Kőszeg A common name for Caladium , also called Verona Fathers, with U.S. head-quarters in Cincinnati. He is now in Uganda. Not having the NCR (NCR Corporation, Dayton, OH, ncr) A technology company specializing in financial terminal transactions, retail systems and data warehousing. Until the late 1990s, NCR was heavily invested in the hardware side of the industry, known worldwide as a major manufacturer of computers address, he asked a colleague in Lima to forward this article. Gakirage has been assigned to missionary work in Ecuador. The article speaks for itself. After four years missionary formation in Lima, Peru, I, Jean Bosco Gakirage, a Comboni missionary, came back for the priestly ordination which had been arranged for June 26 in my home parish of Musha in the Archdiocese of Kigali The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kigali (Latin: Archidioecesis Kigaliensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Rwanda. . On the way, reaching our generalate house in Rome, I learnt that all my parents, brothers and sisters had been killed by the death squads called Interahamwe. I proceeded to Kampala where, with the help of my provincial superior, I was helped to organize newly my ordination. I was ordained priest in Uganda, and the very day of my ordination I left for war-torn Rwanda in search of any survivors of my brothers in the camps of refugees. On reaching the Uganda-Rwanda border, we providentiallyprov·i·den·tial adj. 1. Of or resulting from divine providence. 2. Happening as if through divine intervention; opportune. See Synonyms at happy. ..... Click the link for more information. joined the convoy of Cardinal Etchegaray, the head of the peace and justice pontifical pon·tif·i·cal adj. 1. Relating to, characteristic of, or suitable for a pope or bishop. 2. Having the dignity, pomp, or authority of a pontiff or bishop. 3. Pompously dogmatic or self-important; pretentious. commission, on his official visit to Rwanda. A whole day on the road, dodging dangerous zones and areas of fighting, saw us unto the town of Rwamagana. The Rwandan Patriotic Front The Rwandan Patriotic Front (also translated as: Rwandese Patriotic Front; or referred to as: Patriotic Front of Rwanda) abbreviated as RPF (also often referred to as FPR from French: Front patriotique rwandais received us well, gave us food and a bed for the night. The following day, June 28, some soldiers accompanied us to Musha where, with three priests, two of them refugees in their own country, I celebrated my first holy Mass in the ruins of the youth center where my two brothers and 30 other Tutsi boys and girls boys and girls mercurialisannua. had been recently killed. I looked over the stone that served as an improvised altar and saw the three children, two daughters of my late sister and the son of my cousin, the only remnants of a big clan that, before April 6, counted its members up to 300 people, and fought the tears that were pouring out of my eyes. Then, I lifted up my head, faced them with valor and hope, with faith and trust, and preached about our resurrection, then and there, now and here. For it is not a matter of empty words; it is not another round of priestly pious words; it is our resurrection and we are the resurrection. This resurrection we yearn for, this resurrection we look forward to, is like a weak flame of a candle amid strong winds determined to blow it out. About a million people, mostly Tutsi, have been killed in Rwanda. The survivors, in many places, are in the same camps as those who killed their parents, brothers and sisters. These people whom I call the Resurrection are small children who have seen the face of evil at their age of innocence. While these little ones shrink away from many people, especially the armed personnel, some members of the death squads are out to eliminate them so that none may live to tell what they have seen. They are covering up the atrocities committed by getting rid of all the possible evidence and eyewitnesses. The RPF RPF renal plasma flow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RPF renal plasma flow. officers who have formed the new government told me they cannot arrest any person without hard evidence. Among the children who survived, there is not any one who can witness against the Interahamwe death squads for the mass killings of women, children and unarmed people who had sought refuge in the churches. After having gathered the details about the killings of my parents, brothers and sisters, I took away with me four children, two nieces and a nephew of 6, 7 and 14 years of age respectively, and a cousin-sister of 18 years old. But I cannot take them with me to my first mission in South America. I will leave them in Africa where the wounds of such lives are better and properly cured. These four children are presently out of danger, but there are other children like them still in the camps. These childrens wounds could also be cured if there would be a where and a how. Who will take up this challenge? The world has looked on when the Rwandese were being killed by a bunch of thieves and criminals. Now will the world continue to look on indifferently while these remnants are abandoned in their struggle for survival? It is heard many times from America and Europe speaking of human rights. Is this the same as the right to life? An answer of a Christian to this question could bring for many children in Rwanda a right to life.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Nov 2013 23:45:44 +0000
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