wfn.org | Exiled bishop returns to Burundi

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

June 14, 2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212)870-3803·New York
10-31-71B{274}

By Rebecca C. Asedillo*
United Methodist News Service

United Methodist Bishop J. Alfred Ndoricimpa was thrilled by the
enthusiastic reception given him by church members in Burundi when he
returned there in early June after six years of exile. 

Upon arrival, Ndoricimpa and his companions, Bishop David Lawson of
Franklin, Ind., and Bishop Joao Somane Machado of Mozambique, were taken to
a huge worship service in Bujumbura, capital of Burundi. Lawson and Machado
had been appointed by the Council of Bishops to accompany Ndoricimpa on the
trip back to his country.

The next day, they traveled to another province where Ndoricimpa preached at
the largest parish in Burundi. This was particularly emotional for him, he
said, because he had laid the cornerstone for the church before his hasty
departure in 1993.

At another parish, both the Roman Catholic bishop and the Anglican
archbishop received the bishop. The governor of the eastern province brought
his staff, and more than 3,000 people came to see the bishop lay the
cornerstone for a "Hope for the Children of Africa" school.  

Ndoricimpa also had candid discussions with several government officials
about what is required to prepare for his permanent return in a few months.

Burundian President Pierre Buyoya emphasized to the delegation the need for
Ndoricimpa's presence in Burundi, according to Lawson. "President Buyoya had
said to me last March, and said it to the bishop directly this time, that
it's important for Bishop Ndoricimpa to be in Burundi if they ever expect to
have any kind of peace there," Lawson explained.   

More than 200,000 people have been reported killed in Burundi since 1993,
when conflicts between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes erupted. That year, the
country's first democratically elected Hutu president was assassinated in a
military coup, forcing Ndoricimpa, who had been the president's spiritual
adviser, to flee into Kenya.

Hutus make up about 85 percent of Burundi's population, but the Tutsis,
although a minority, control the powerful Burundian army and government.  
    
While in exile, Ndoricimpa guided the growth and development of the church
in Burundi from his base in Nairobi, Kenya, and expanded its mission into
Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. These areas now make up the East
Africa Annual Conference.    

Lawson recalled the festiveness of the welcoming ceremony, sponsored by the
United Methodist annual conference in a town called Gitega. The event
featured dancing by people in colorful attire, singing by different choirs
and vigorous drumming by 15 to 18 royal drummers using very tall African
drums, he said.

"Drums were beating for the service for two days," Ndoricimpa added.

In all his preaching and other public comments, Ndoricimpa stressed a
message of unity between the Hutus and Tutsis. He made a strong appeal to
the people to lay aside tribal and other kinds of differences that have
generated into civil war, according to Lawson.

"He challenged them to think that peace in Burundi will only come when the
people themselves would determine that that's what they wanted," Lawson
said. "He challenged the people to start saying no to both government
military and rebel forces who are driving this civil war, and to make it
clear that the people do intend to have and want to have peace." 

The United Methodist Church in Burundi is the second largest religious
denomination there, after the Roman Catholic Church. With its multi-ethnic
character both in its leadership and membership, the church has been
demonstrating for some time that the conflict is unnecessary, Lawson said. 

Within the last six years, the church has grown by 30 percent. Ndoricimpa,
despite being physically absent, has been actively supervising the work of
the church by fax and telephone, and by having his district superintendents
meet with him in Nairobi.  

Former South African president Nelson Mandela, who arrived in Bujumbura on
June 12, has announced that the way has been cleared for peace in Burundi,
with the Buyoya government agreeing to two key conditions for ending the
civil war.

Mandela, who brokered the peace accord, said that the conditions are for an
equal representation of Hutus and Tutsi in the army, and a July 31 deadline
for closing down the "regroupment" camps, which have been internationally
criticized and which Mandela himself has called concentration camps.
According to news reports, more than 300,000 Hutu villagers have been forced
to move into the camps.   

# # #

*Asedillo writes frequently for the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries.

 

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United Methodist News Service
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