Clergies call for unity in 2014

Leaders of different faith organisations have urged Rwandans to embrace values of unity, patriotism, and fraternity to improve their lives and build a stronger and more prosperous Rwanda in 2014.For Monsignor Smaragde Mbonyintege, the bishop of the Roman Catholic Church of Kabgayi in Southern Province, it is important for Rwandans to keep the momentum to work on their unity in the New Year.Mbonyintege is also the spokesperson of the Roman Catholic Church in Rwanda.He localised the global message of Pope Francis to the realities of Rwanda, picking up on the message to understand that fraternity among people is the basis for any development.It is a situation where people feel that they belong to the same parent, God in the case of believers according to the bishop, but also to other things in the case of Rwandans.“As Rwandans, we have a common parent; our country. It is very important to understand that,” Mbonyintege said, urging Rwandans to work together and always help each other.In Pope Francis’ message for New Year’s Day, he urged for fraternity among world citizens and called for special care for vulnerable groups, especially the vulnerable elderly and children, immigrants, and refugees.“Fraternity is an essential human quality, for we are relational beings. A lively awareness of our relatedness helps us to look upon and to treat each person as a true sister or brother; without fraternity it is impossible to build a just society and a solid and lasting peace,” the Pope said in a lengthy letter to be quoted worldwide by Catholic Church leaders in their New Year sermons.Monsignor Mbonyintege agrees with the Pope’s message and said that “it is significant for Rwandans given our history.”He encouraged Rwandans to care more about a campaign aimed at healing and unifying them dubbed, Ndi Umunyarwanda (loosely translated as ‘I’m Rwandan’), saying it can help them to achieve more things in 2014.Echoes of unityIt is that message of unity and its promotion through Ndi Umunyarwanda campaign that Mufti Sheikh Ibrahim Kayitare, the head of Muslims in Rwanda, has sent to the public for the New Year.“It’s the unity of Rwandans that will help build the country. Unity is the source of development,” Sheikh Kayitare said in an interview with The New Times yesterday. “2014 should be the time for Rwandans to sow seeds of unity and that’s part of our Rwandan values.”The Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Rwanda, Onesphore Rwaje, agrees.“The Rwandan identity supersedes everything. We need to love our country and always understand that we are Rwandans above everything else,” he said.The clergyman said Rwandans should invest with hopes to gain more in 2014 in order to improve their country’s economy.“This has to be a peaceful year and we need to remain thankful,” Rwaje said.For Apostle Yoshua Ndagijimana Masasu, head of the Evangelical Restoration Church, Rwandans need to invest in hope in 2014 because it is a year for “double achievement.”Apostle Masasu interprets the last two figures of the year (14) as signs of prosperity, saying it is the double for seven (7), a figure he says is a sign of achievement in his reading of the Bible.With 2014, the Apostle takes seven-times-two and gets the last two numbers of the year and interprets them as “double achievement.”“For 2014, we wish Rwandans to double what they have achieved so far,” he said.Rwandans last evening flocked worship places to thank God for the completed year 2013 and to meditate and pray for their goals in 2014 to be achieved.

National

Clergies call for unity in 2014