How Catholic Media in Rwanda are Helping to Heal the Wounds of 1994 Genocide
Cardinal Antoine Kambanda of Rwanda discussed how Catholic media is being utilized to promote healing and reconciliation following the 1994 genocide. He emphasized the responsibility of media outlets to avoid spreading the division and hatred that fueled the past tragedy.
Why it matters
It highlights the role of religious institutions in post-conflict social reconstruction and the ethical responsibilities of media in fragile societies.
Kigali, 04 August, 2026 / 4:58 pm (ACI Africa).
Catholic media in Rwanda has developed programs for trauma healing and reconciliation, helping to heal the wounds of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, Antoine Cardinal Kambanda of Rwanda's Catholic Archdiocese of Kigali has said.
In his welcome address at the ongoing SIGNIS World Congress in Rwanda’s capital Kigali, Cardinal Kambanda noted that the media, generally, acted as a powerful participant in the genocide in which more than one million people are estimated to have perished and an estimated 250,000 women raped.
The Cardinal said that the congress, happening in Africa for the first time in history, provides an opportunity for the continent to share the good and bad of social media, acknowledging that Rwanda’s history is an example of how social media spreads division, hatred and falsehood.
Antoine Cardinal Kambanda of Rwanda's Catholic Archdiocese of Kigali. Credit: ACI Africa
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