information:classification, stylistic:tone, linguistic:voice_change
Catholic Church

Pope John Paul II expressed his deep concern about what was happening in April 1994. On 9 April, in a message to Rwandan Catholics he urged them "not to give way to feelings of hatred and revenge but to courageously practice dialogue and forgiveness".

The Catholic Church affirms that genocide took place but states that those who took part in it did so without the permission of the Church. Though religious factors were not prominent, in its 1999 report Human Rights Watch faulted a number of religious authorities in Rwanda, including Catholics, Anglicans and other Protestant denominations, for failing to condemn the genocide, though that accusation was belied over time. Many other clergymen gave their lives to prevent Tutsis from being killed.

Some clergy participated in the massacres. Catholic nuns Maria Kisito and Gertrude Mukangango were convicted in 2001 of involvement in the murders of 500-700 Tutsis who had sought refuge at their convent in Sovu. Witnesses testified that they had directed a death squad to the victims' hiding place and had given them petrol with which to burn down the building. In 2006, Father Athanase Seromba was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment (increased on appeal to life imprisonment) by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for his role in the massacre of 2,000 Tutsis. The court heard that Seromba lured the Tutsis to the church, where they believed they would find refuge. When they arrived, he ordered that bulldozers should be used to crush the refugees who were hiding inside the church and if any of them were still alive, Hutu militias should kill them all. Some in the Catholic Church's religious hierarchy were later tried and convicted for their participation in the genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Bishop Misago was accused of corruption and complicity in the genocide, but he was cleared of all charges in 2000.

On 20 March 2017, Pope Francis acknowledged that while some Catholic nuns and priests in the country were killed during the genocide, others were complicit in it and took part in preparing and executing the genocide.