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François Murenzi |
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| A friend remembered | |||||
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 The Rev François Murenzi
Bishop's Curate of Athy, County Kildare and former curate of Bray, County Wicklow,
was buried in Roselawn Cemetery, Belfast, on Monday 24th November 2003, following
his tragic death after a road accident. A native of Rwanda, François (40)
was the first black African ordained to the ministry of the Church of
Ireland.
"He was like a breath of fresh air with an infectious laugh and delightful
sense of humour," said one of his clerical colleagues. Others recalled that
while his early life had marked by much pain and grief he always bore it
with a smile.
François Murenzi came from a second-generation Christian family in Rwanda,
and both his parents were influenced by the famous East African revival,
which started in Gahini, his home village. His father, Abraham Simparimiheto
was a well-known evangelist who planted churches in four of the eight
Anglican dioceses in Rwanda, while his uncle was Canon Silas Kabirigi from
the Diocese of Shyira.
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François was educated in Rwanda and in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then Zaire). He received a State Diploma in Commerce and Administration in 1982 and worked as a civil servant in the Ministry of Finance in Rwanda for seven years before moving to England in 1989. After studying at Bible colleges in London and Nantwich he graduated with an honours BA from Manchester University in 1995. While studying at Redcliffe Bible College in London he met his Belfast-born wife, Susan (Fearon), who was training to be a missionary in Spain. They were married in Saint Donard's, Belfast, in 1993 and have four children - Mucyo (7), Ikuzwe (6), Manzi (5) and Neza (3). In June 1994, François returned to Rwanda in the immediate aftermath of the genocide in which up to a million people had been killed, to try to find if any of his Tutsi family had survived. He arrived in his hometown shortly after it was liberated by returning Tutsi forces to learn that his parents had been killed by a mob and their home razed to the ground. The experience was harrowing. "I was jumping over dead bodies. I started to think about my wife I had left behind in England. What if I die here? But then I recognised that God is with me and protecting me." His father's Hutu godson tried to hide his parents for a number of days, moving them from house to house. Other family members were more fortunate: François's brother Samuel, who had been taken prisoner by Hutu troops, was freed by the returning Tutsi forces; their sister Charlotte survived after hiding for two weeks in an attic. Back in London, the BBC asked him how he squared his religious beliefs with the experience. But his faith had been strengthened, and he came to forgive those who killed his parents. "I let go in the end," he explained. "If I do not forgive these people I will be full of bitterness and hatred and it will do no good for my personality. They must be forgiven because Jesus' love is different - it transcends every ethnic divide and hatred." François and Susan moved to Belfast in 1995 and shortly afterwards was appointed Youth Officer with CMS Ireland, a post he held until he began training for the ordained ministry in 1999. During these years he travelled extensively throughout Ireland and led a number of Mission Teams to Africa. He had a vision for his ministry among young people and pioneered a number of new initiatives to involve them in practical mission. He developed outreach work to the growing immigrant community and helped many to settle in the country. He studied at the Church of Ireland Theological College in Dublin, receiving an M.Phil in ecumenical theology from the Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin. | ||||
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François was ordained a deacon in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin, on 17th June, 2001
- the first black African to be ordained in the Church of Ireland - and was ordained priest a
year later. He was a curate in Bray for two
years until his appointment as Bishop's Curate of Athy last July. The large
19th century rectory was alive with the sound of young children for the
first time in many years, and François, fired with enthusiasm for his new
post, hoped to build on his experiences of youth ministry with CMSI and in
Bray. "A church without children and youth is a dying church," he said. "I
would like to see more young teenagers involved in church activities… The
challenge is to bring faith alive in the community."
His parishioners in Athy have spoken of how much François had touched their
lives, and how in four short months he had an impact on them and on the
wider community. The Archbishop of Dublin and Bishop of Glendalough, Dr John
Neill, recalling how François, Susan and their children had won a special
place in the hearts of parishioners in Bray and in Athy, said he had
ministered with great sensitivity, bringing to many a deep joy in their
faith." Father Philip Dennehy, Parish Priest of Athy, said: "In the short
time he was here he was greatly loved by everyone." François died on
19th November 2003 in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, following injuries
sustained in a motor accident on 13th November. His funeral took place in St
Michael's Church, Athy, and in Willowfield Parish Church, Belfast.
Rev François-Xavier Murenzi Born 18th February, 1963 Died 19th November, 2003. |
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