Between 1920 and 1994, the Catholic Church was Rwanda's most dominant social and religious institution. In recent years, the church has been critiqued for its perceived complicity in the ethnic discourse and political corruption that culminated with the 1994 genocide. In analyzing the contested legacy of Catholicism in Rwanda, Rwanda Before the Genocide focuses on a critical decade, from 1952 to 1962, when Hutu and Tutsi identities became politicized, essentialized, and associated with political violence. This study--the first English-language church history on Rwanda in over 30 years--examines the reactions of Catholic leaders such as the Swiss White Father Andre Perraudin and Aloys Bigirumwami, Rwanda's first indigenous bishop. It evaluates Catholic leaders' controversial responses to ethnic violence during the revolutionary changes of 1959-62 and after Rwanda's ethnic massacres in 1963-64, 1973, and the early 1990s. In seeking to provide deeper insight into the many-threaded roots of the Rwandan genocide, Rwanda Before the Genocide offers constructive lessons for Christian ecclesiology and social ethics in Africa and beyond.

About the Author
J.J. Carney is Assistant Professor of Theology at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska. His research and teaching interests engage the theological and historical dimensions of the Catholic experience in modern Africa. He has published articles in African Ecclesial Review, Modern Theology, Journal of Religion in Africa, and Studies in World Christianity.

Reviews
Carney does an excellent job situating the late colonial period within Rwanda's broader history and explaining the complexities of the ethnic discourse in Rwanda. * Becca Henriksen, Reading Religion *
This is an outstanding piece of church history writing and another example of the importance of theological literacy in its writing. It should act as a siren call for anthropologists and sociologists to participate more fully in this discipline. * Ian Linden, Social Sciences and Missions *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199982271
Author J.J. Carney
Format Hardback
Page Count 358
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 664g
Dimensions(mm) 163mm * 236mm * 28mm