Bishops ask for end to massacres and war

The Catholic bishops of Burundi have written a message to their "Christian Brothers and Sisters and fellow countrymen," entitled "Do not invoke ethnic appurtenance to exculpate yourself of crime. All killers, be they Hutu or Tutsi, are criminals."

This latest appeal by Burundi's bishops for an end to massacres and to the war was written in Kirundi. It was released today in a French translation by the Holy See Press Office.

The message says, in part: "The horrors of which people tell us and which we ourselves have witnessed have already gone beyond every limit. Many of our fellow citizens are exhibiting a behavior unworthy of man: they are killing children, women, old people, ill people. Not only are they attacking healthy people, they are even killing ill people in hospitals and health centers. They are killing leaders as well as simple people, Burundians as well as foreigners, the innocent and evil-doers. They are killing animals, and they are destroying homes. These crimes are being committed constantly, day and night. That creates a climate of fear and great suffering."

"We ask ourselves the question: where is the root of this evil that Burundi is suffering? We believe that this evil finds its cause in the introduction of the ideology of ethnics into the play of interests."

The bishops of Burundi then study at length the history of ethnic conflicts in their country, the struggle for power and what they term "a war of ethnic extermination." "All these evils which we have just described," they write, "can only be called a 'poison' which must be eliminated."

They then separately addressed specific sectors of the nation: Burundi's people; leaders, both political and civil; members of the armed forces and police; judges; and "Christian brothers and sisters, priests, religious, and catechists."