Rwanda: Catholic priest declared ‘persona non grata’ by colleagues
By RNA Reporter
August 1, 2009
Kigali: The Missionaries of Africa (or White Fathers) in Rwanda – a part of the Catholic Church, have petitioned the Superior General in Rome to declare a White Father deemed to be too close to the establishment in Rwanda as ‘not allowed’ on the territory under their jurisdiction, RNA can exclusively disclose.
The White Fathers Order in Kigali tagged Father Stefaan Minnaert as ‘persona non grata’, according to information we have obtained, meaning that Rwanda is out-of-bounds for the affected priest. Father Stefaan is said to be “furious”, “shocked” and “disappointed” by the development in what sources tell RNA is a long and frosty relationship between him and colleagues in Rwanda.
Father Stefaan, who lived in Rwanda more than 10years, was scheduled to travel to Rwanda on a personal visit and to meet the many friends he has in Rwanda, the sources said. He is Belgian but is said to be working at Headquarters of the White Fathers Order in Rome as an archivist.
RNA has been told that Father Stefaan’s troubles stem from his long career as a researcher and writer who has published widely on Rwanda. The common theme with most of his publications has not fallen well with his colleagues here and back in Rome because he discloses information which directly links the church to the bitter history of Rwanda.
The most damning of Father Stefaan’s books is: "Premier Voyage de Mgr Hirth au Rwanda" published in March 2006. In this book that local academics say is rare to come by, Father Stefaan details the activities of legendary Bishop Hirth.
In 1900, Bishop Hirth was one of the four founders of the Catholic Church in Rwanda after coming in from Uganda. The critical literature that Father Stefaan writes about the man behind the church’s entry in Rwanda is said to have left him in the bad books of his superiors.
Another of Father Stefaan’s revelatory works was a paper he presented here in September last year. The high-level conference themed ‘Mutations, convergences, competition of Religions in Rwanda’, organized by the National University of Rwanda and Free University of Brussels (ULB) took place September 18-19 in Huye district, Southern Province.
Father Stefaan was among about 30 top researchers and historians invited, presenting a controversial paper titled ‘The White Father Encounter with the Rwandan Population during the German Colonial Period (1900-1916)’. The research paper is said to have been so revealing about the Catholic clergy’s role in brewing hate in Rwanda that plans are underway to make it public, according to our sources.
“Probably Father Sala and his colleagues believe Father Stefaan has a lot of secrets that he could spill to the many friends in this country”, said a source who attended the lecture. “When you speak to Father Stefaan, you realize he has a very free-thinking personality and speaks very openly about anything.”
A source who preferred anonymity to discuss the issue freely described Father Stefaan’s 2008 presentation as “very interesting”.
However, when the RNA reporter contacted the accused Father Sala, he looked shocked dismissing all the information put to him. While spreading hands in the air in angry gestures and seemingly getting irritated, he immediately bid-farewell to the reporter following the brief encounter.
Listen to me,” he short back in perfectly phased Kinyarwanda. “We do not have the right to refuse anybody permission from coming to Rwanda.”
It is claimed that Father Sala and his colleagues in Kigali actually wrote to Father Stefaan’s immediate-superior in Rome demanding that he is not given permission to come. Another of the White Fathers named is Father Traore, a Burkinabe national, however, RNA did not meet him as he was said to be away.
But without allowing any space for the RNA reporter to interject, Father Sala furiously states in our secretly recorded short conversation that: “As for me writing, I do not even know what you are talking about”.
The short and elderly-looking Father Sala is of Spanish nationality which has prompted suggestions in Kigali linking him to what is described here as the “negationist lobby”. It is this group of organizations and individuals that government accuses of consistently negating the Genocide. Father Sala is also linked to the contested Spanish indictments in which a judge wants 40 Rwandan officials including President Kagame arrested.
However, Father Sala could not take any of that - angrily refusing to hear all the allegations, instead asking the RNA reporter to leave the White Fathers’ residence in Kigali. The RNA reporter had spent hours waiting at the gate to the large and fenced compound.
Father Sala initially declined to meet the reporter because he does not speak to people he does not know or is familiar with, according to the youthful male gatekeeper.
“Look here”, Father Sala said amid prolonged laughter, adding, “I have no right and authority to declare anybody persona-non-grata in Rwanda, how possible is that? There are already those who have that authority. I am just a priest”.
“Urabeho…mfite akazi kenshi”, Father Sala said finally as he walked away – loosely translated as ‘Goodbye…I have plenty of work to do.’
Related Materials:
Kigali: The Missionaries of Africa (or White Fathers) in Rwanda – a part of the Catholic Church, have petitioned the Superior General in Rome to declare a White Father deemed to be too close to the establishment in Rwanda as ‘not allowed’ on the territory under their jurisdiction, RNA can exclusively disclose.
The White Fathers Order in Kigali tagged Father Stefaan Minnaert as ‘persona non grata’, according to information we have obtained, meaning that Rwanda is out-of-bounds for the affected priest. Father Stefaan is said to be “furious”, “shocked” and “disappointed” by the development in what sources tell RNA is a long and frosty relationship between him and colleagues in Rwanda.
Father Stefaan, who lived in Rwanda more than 10years, was scheduled to travel to Rwanda on a personal visit and to meet the many friends he has in Rwanda, the sources said. He is Belgian but is said to be working at Headquarters of the White Fathers Order in Rome as an archivist.
RNA has been told that Father Stefaan’s troubles stem from his long career as a researcher and writer who has published widely on Rwanda. The common theme with most of his publications has not fallen well with his colleagues here and back in Rome because he discloses information which directly links the church to the bitter history of Rwanda.
The most damning of Father Stefaan’s books is: "Premier Voyage de Mgr Hirth au Rwanda" published in March 2006. In this book that local academics say is rare to come by, Father Stefaan details the activities of legendary Bishop Hirth.
In 1900, Bishop Hirth was one of the four founders of the Catholic Church in Rwanda after coming in from Uganda. The critical literature that Father Stefaan writes about the man behind the church’s entry in Rwanda is said to have left him in the bad books of his superiors.
Another of Father Stefaan’s revelatory works was a paper he presented here in September last year. The high-level conference themed ‘Mutations, convergences, competition of Religions in Rwanda’, organized by the National University of Rwanda and Free University of Brussels (ULB) took place September 18-19 in Huye district, Southern Province.
Father Stefaan was among about 30 top researchers and historians invited, presenting a controversial paper titled ‘The White Father Encounter with the Rwandan Population during the German Colonial Period (1900-1916)’. The research paper is said to have been so revealing about the Catholic clergy’s role in brewing hate in Rwanda that plans are underway to make it public, according to our sources.
“Probably Father Sala and his colleagues believe Father Stefaan has a lot of secrets that he could spill to the many friends in this country”, said a source who attended the lecture. “When you speak to Father Stefaan, you realize he has a very free-thinking personality and speaks very openly about anything.”
A source who preferred anonymity to discuss the issue freely described Father Stefaan’s 2008 presentation as “very interesting”.
However, when the RNA reporter contacted the accused Father Sala, he looked shocked dismissing all the information put to him. While spreading hands in the air in angry gestures and seemingly getting irritated, he immediately bid-farewell to the reporter following the brief encounter.
Listen to me,” he short back in perfectly phased Kinyarwanda. “We do not have the right to refuse anybody permission from coming to Rwanda.”
It is claimed that Father Sala and his colleagues in Kigali actually wrote to Father Stefaan’s immediate-superior in Rome demanding that he is not given permission to come. Another of the White Fathers named is Father Traore, a Burkinabe national, however, RNA did not meet him as he was said to be away.
But without allowing any space for the RNA reporter to interject, Father Sala furiously states in our secretly recorded short conversation that: “As for me writing, I do not even know what you are talking about”.
The short and elderly-looking Father Sala is of Spanish nationality which has prompted suggestions in Kigali linking him to what is described here as the “negationist lobby”. It is this group of organizations and individuals that government accuses of consistently negating the Genocide. Father Sala is also linked to the contested Spanish indictments in which a judge wants 40 Rwandan officials including President Kagame arrested.
However, Father Sala could not take any of that - angrily refusing to hear all the allegations, instead asking the RNA reporter to leave the White Fathers’ residence in Kigali. The RNA reporter had spent hours waiting at the gate to the large and fenced compound.
Father Sala initially declined to meet the reporter because he does not speak to people he does not know or is familiar with, according to the youthful male gatekeeper.
“Look here”, Father Sala said amid prolonged laughter, adding, “I have no right and authority to declare anybody persona-non-grata in Rwanda, how possible is that? There are already those who have that authority. I am just a priest”.
“Urabeho…mfite akazi kenshi”, Father Sala said finally as he walked away – loosely translated as ‘Goodbye…I have plenty of work to do.’
Related Materials:
posted by Mamadou Kouyate @ 9:02 AM
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