CoGS asked to mark anniversary

The Council of General Synod (CoGS), which meets March 4-7, will vote on a resolution calling on Canadian Anglicans to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide on Palm Sunday, April 4.

The resolution, endorsed last month by the executive of the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund (PWRDF) and the national Partners in Mission committee, also urges Archbishop David Crawley, the acting primate, to petition the Canadian government to recognize the anniversary of the genocide and to support a formal United Nations declaration of April 2004 as Rwanda Genocide Remembrance Month.

The genocide, which began on April 7, 1994, resulted in the deaths of more than 800,000 people.

“It’s important for that time in history to be remembered, when there was an international call to end the genocide and the world stood by and did nothing while over 800,000 people were butchered,” said PWRDF executive director Andrew Ignatieff.

In 1994, PWRDF co-ordinated the worldwide Anglican appeal for Rwanda and Burundi, and raised more than $750,000 for emergency relief, reconstruction and reconciliation efforts.

CoGS is the church’s governing body that meets between the triennial meetings of General Synod.