Pope John Paul II

=== Rwandan genocide ===
{{see|Rwandan genocide}}
In 1990, during the [[Rwandan Civil War|civil war]] between [[Tutsis]] and [[Hutus]] in the mostly Catholic country of Rwanda, John Paul II called for a ceasefire and condemned the persecution of the Tutsis.<ref>{{cite news|author=Dariusz Rosiak |url=http://tygodnik.onet.pl/wiara/arcybiskup-i-maczety/l2w2l |title=Arcybiskup i maczety |language=pl |trans-title=Archbishop and machetes |publisher=[[Tygodnik Powszechny]] |date=21 July 2013 |access-date=9 November 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109104402/http://tygodnik.onet.pl/wiara/arcybiskup-i-maczety/l2w2l |archive-date=9 November 2013 }}</ref> In 1994, he was the first world leader to condemn the massacre of the Tutsis as a [[genocide]]. In 1995, during his third visit to [[Kenya]] before an audience of 300,000, John Paul II pleaded for an end to the violence in [[Rwanda]] and [[Burundi]], urging forgiveness and reconciliation as a solution to the genocide. He told Rwandan and Burundian refugees that he "was close to them and shared their immense pain". He said:

<blockquote>"What is happening in your countries is a terrible tragedy that must end. During the African Synod, we, the pastors of the church, felt the duty to express our consternation and to launch an appeal for forgiveness and reconciliation. This is the only way to dissipate the threats of ethnocentrism that are hovering over Africa these days and that have so brutally touched Rwanda and [[1993 ethnic violence in Burundi|Burundi]]."<ref>{{cite news |author=Donatella Lorch |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/20/world/pope-calls-for-end-to-killings-in-rwanda.html |title=Pope Calls for End to Killings in Rwanda |newspaper=The New York Times |date=20 September 1995 |access-date=9 November 2013}}</ref></blockquote>