Preface to a Theological Understanding of the Burundi’s Socio-Politico-Cultural Impasse and New Evangelization as A Remedy
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Date
2014
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Tangaza University College/Duquesne University
Abstract
I wanted to become elite. I was Catholic. I found myself Catholic. They baptised
me. They simply baptised me. I was born when my father had already decided to
become Christian. He had wanted it, him, my father. My mother too had wanted it.
They had endured hunger, fatigue for four years to be initiated into a new life they
wanted to live…
1
(Translation ours).
The above passage is an extract from Michel Kayoya’s book entitled “Entre
Deux Mondes: D’une generation à l’autre”. It gives us an idea of what many people
feel when they see what Burundi has become in the past 50 years despite the Gospel
of Christ brought by the missionaries over a century ago. Indeed many people
wonder if the Barundi converted to Christianity at all because they understood its
demands or simply embraced it because they wanted to become elite like Kayoya.
However the truth is: The Barundi became divided according to their ethnic
affiliation at the time when the missionaries were ready to reap the fruits of their
labour. The Belgian colonial administration is accused of engineering this division.
In fact, in 1930, they imposed on the Barundi an identification card bearing the
terms “Hutu” for a Muhutu and “Tutsi” for a Mututsi.
The Bahutu and the Batutsi had lived together in peace and harmony for
centuries under the leadership of the Mwami (king) who was helped by the Baganwa
(princes), the Banyamabanga (trustees) and the Bashingantahe (wise men seen as a
kind of social referees or conflict managers and agents of reconciliation). There had never been any problem in terms of political succession because the king always
came from the royal family, and all the Barundi were happy with that. In fact it is
widely believed that the Ganwa identity which represented the royal family
contained both Bahutu and Batutsi members.
2
This then shows us how the inter-
ethnic conflict which has ravaged Burundi for decades has nothing to do with its
remote history. As many scholars and specialists of Burundian politics and history
have argued, it seems that the differences between the Barundi were more socio-
political rather than ethnic or cultural. Indeed as one of them contends, in the
Barundi kingdom “power struggles were expressed in different terms, for reasons
other than ‘ethnocentrism’ and against external enemies.”
When the missionaries came towards the end of the 19
3
th
century, they found
themselves falling into the trap set by the colonial administration. They collaborated
with them in reinforcing the division between the Barundi by favouring one ethnic
group over the other. The consequences proved disastrous as they experienced a
cycle of violence between the two groups in the years that followed the
independence of the country. This thesis addresses this impasse and seeks to find a remedy. Since it is
obvious that the Gospel message preached to the Barundi did not take roots in their
hearts, we have suggested the “New Evangelization” of the Barundi as a way
forward. This “New Evangelization” will consist of the principles of Justice, Peace
and Reconciliation since this is what the Barundi need most now.
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Keywords
Theological Understanding, Socio-Politico-Cultural, Impasse, Evangelization