UNITED KINGDOM
The Observer
Chris McGreal
The Observer, Saturday 5 April 2014
A former Anglican archbishop of Rwanda has challenged a claim by the Church of England that he endorsed the appointment of a priest in Worcestershire who is under investigation over accusations that he was complicit in the 1994 genocide.
As Rwanda prepares to mark the 20th anniversary of the start of the genocide tomorrow, the church said that Bishop Jonathan Ruhumuliza has been suspended while it looks into “disturbing” accusations, brought to its attention by the Observer in February, that he was a propagandist for the regime responsible for the murder of 800,000 Tutsis and was implicated in killings.
The Church of England has defended Ruhumuliza’s appointment as a priest at St Mary and All Saints church in Hampton Lovett, Worcestershire, in 2005 by saying that it conducted “extensive checks” into his background and found no evidence of involvement in the genocide. It said the bishop was “commended” to it by the then archbishop of Rwanda, Emmanuel Kolini.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.