Wenceslas Munyeshyaka
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Gabriel Ngiruwonsanga (father)
Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 30 July 1958 |
| Occupation | Ex Priest |
| Children | 1 |
| Parent(s) | Félicité Mukarukaka (mother) Gabriel Ngiruwonsanga (father) |
| Conviction | Convicted of genocide |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment (in absentia) |
| Ecclesiastical career | |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Church | Roman Catholic Church |
Congregations served | Sainte-Famille Parish, Kigali |
Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka (born 30 July 1958) is a Rwandan priest working in France who was convicted of genocide by a Rwandan military court. Munyeshyaka was pursued in the French courts but in October 2015 the case was not continued because of the quality of the evidence. Despite the controversy and his Rwandan conviction he has been employed as a priest in France since 2001.[1]
Munyeshyaka was born on 30 July 1958 in Butare Province, Rwanda. His mother, Félicité Mukarukaka, was a Tutsi and his father, Gabriel Ngiruwonsanga, was a Hutu. He was born in the Rwandan commune of Ngoma in Butare prefecture.[2]
Munyeshyaka was responsible for the Sainte-Famille church and parish in Kigali.[3]
A military tribunal in Rwanda found him guilty of rape and involvement in the 1994 genocide and sentenced him in absentia to life in prison. He was found to have delivered hundreds of adults and children to the genocidal militias, which brutally slaughtered them. The military tribunal found Munyeshyaka guilty of rape and of aiding militias in the killing of hundreds of Tutsi refugees at the Holy Family Cathedral in downtown Kigali, where he was head priest.[1]
In October 2015 the French government expressed disappointment that the French courts had decided to not progress the case further against Munyeshyaka.[1]
The Catholic church has employed him as a priest in Gisors, France and the Epte Valley since 2001.[1]
In late 2021, he was excommunicated by the Catholic Church because he had sired a son which illustrated that he broke his vow of celibacy.[4] Also, it is said by genocide survivors that he carried a pistol on his belt, even while he was celebrating Mass. [5]