Pope Francis dismisses Rwandan priest Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, for role in 1994 genocide and for bearing a child

Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, a 64-year-old Rwandan has been relieved of his priestly duties by Pope Francis the Sovereign Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, for playing an active role in the 1994 genocide and subsequently fathering a child.

Munyeshyaka was accused of being one of the key masterminds of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

On Tuesday, May 2, Munyeshyaka—who has spent nearly three decades living in France—was informed of Pope Francis’s decision by Bishop of Evreux, Christian Nourrichard.

He is accused of planning the 1994 Genocide in many Kigali neighbourhoods, particularly the murders at Saint Famille Catholic Church, where he served as a priest at the time.

“By Decree dated March 23, 2023, received last week, the Sovereign Pontiff Pope Francis, by his supreme and final decision which is not subject to any appeal, has dismissed in poenam from the clerical state Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, incardinated in the Archdiocese of Kigali (Rwanda) and currently residing in the Diocese of Evreux,” Nourrichard’s letter to Munyeshyaka read in part.

“Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka is exempt from all obligations arising from sacred ordination, automatically loses all the rights specific to the clerical state, is excluded from the exercise of the sacred ministry and cannot function as lector or acolyte, nor to drink communion nowhere. He should avoid places where his previous status is known,” the letter continued.

Bishop Nourrichard stated that the Pope’s order went into effect on May 3 right away.

The letter did not, however, explain why Pope Francis had decided to remove Munyeshyaka from the clergy.

Munyeshyaka, a former vicar of Sainte Famille, is charged with participating in killings throughout the capital and giving Tutsi women who had sought safety at his church to militiamen so they could be raped.

Known for carrying a rifle and dressing in military garb throughout the Genocide, Munyeshyaka collaborated closely with some of the Genocide’s principal architects, including Col. Tharcisse Renzaho, a former mayor of Kigali, among others.

Munyeshyaka was found guilty of genocide offences in absentia by Gacaca courts in 2006.

He was charged with additional offences at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), but the UN tribunal eventually forwarded his case to the French justice, which dismissed it in 2015 despite substantial evidence, sparking outrage from the Rwandan government and survivors of his crimes.

According to a report from December 2021, Bishop Nourrichard had suspended Munyeshyaka from his clerical responsibilities after learning that he had fathered a son.

In December 2021, he admitted Infront of the law, being the father of a 10-year-old child.

Speculations are that the recent dismissal is a combination of the two incidents leading to the communique by the bishop of Évreux, that Munyeshyaka has lost his, “clerical rights” and is equally excluded from serving “anywhere else” as a priest of the Catholic church.

By Amina Hilda