Truth process not set, but Burundi's church begins reconciliation

Published: 2005-10-04

BUJUMBURA, Burundi (CNS) -- The biggest sponsor of soccer matches in Burundi these days is not a beer company or an auto manufacturer, but the Catholic Church. But the church-backed soccer is not all fun and games: It is a way to help Burundians move past their decades of interethnic killings and war and to develop trust between peoples more used to fighting it out in the bush than on the soccer field. "It is necessary for the development and the foundations for peace," said Thomas Nijimbere, executive secretary of the Burundian bishops' laity commission and one of the organizers of the sports and cultural program, which also includes dancing and discussions for young people and adults in each parish in Burundi. Burundi has seen enough tragedy since independence from Belgium in 1962 for a country 10 times its size. At only around 10,000 square miles, Burundi is dwarfed by its neighbors, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. To the north is Rwanda, with which it shares a very similar language and a history of violence between the majority Hutu and minority Tutsi populations.

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