African Priest to Talk About the Aftermath of the Rwanda Genocide at Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – Rev. Toussaint Murhula, S.J., will give a lecture detailing the impact of the refugee flux on the Congolese people titled, “The Aftermaths of Rwanda Genocide in the Congo,” on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 4 pm in Rehm Library at the College of the Holy Cross.  The event, which was organized by Ambroise Kom, professor of modern language and literatures and director of Africana studies, is free and open to the public.

Murhula, a visiting Jesuit staying on campus, is from the Central Africa Jesuit Province. He was born in Bukavu (Eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1973. He earned two bachelor degrees; one in philosophy with a dissertation on Hegel’s Philosophy of Right and the other in theology, both from Hekima College in Nairobi, Catholic University of Eastern Africa. He received his graduate degree, a Licentiate in ethics and social theories at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley. His academic interests in globalization theory and postcolonial studies led him to research the political crises that tear the African Great Lakes Region apart.

Murhula has a great interest in art and poetry. He has published poems, literary critical articles and book reviews in different European, African and Canadian journals as well as articles related to the politics and the Congo. While working in Bukavu (2005-2007), he started a ballet group, Renaissance Africa, which participated in the recent Cultural Festival (FestBuk) in July 2007. In Bukavu, he served as the chaplain of the Jesuit high school Collège Alfajiri, while teaching in different church institutions, working in parish ministry, and giving seminars on the Catholic social teaching to the diocesan priests. He has also delivered several talks mainly on the political crisis in the Great Lakes Region and preached Ignatian retreats to both clergy and lay people.