Rwanda genocide survivor Immaculée Ilibagiza will speak on forgiveness and reconciliation at several Hawaii locations this month.
She will talk at 7 p.m., Jan. 13, at St. Anthony Church in Wailuku, Maui, in the Blaisdell Concert Hall at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 14 and 15, and at the Red Mass, 9 a.m., Jan. 17, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace on Fort Street Mall.
The events are free. The Maui and Blaisdell events are being sponsored by the Alec and Belle Waterhouse Lecture Series, Hawaii Family Forum and the Hawaii Catholic Conference. The Waterhouse series is a ministry of Waialae Baptist Church.
The Red Mass, celebrated annually during the week the state legislature opens, is the Catholic Church’s public prayer to the Holy Spirit for wisdom and guidance for the state’s civic leaders. Bishop Larry Silva will preside at the liturgy.
Ilibagiza’s life was dramatically transformed at age 22 by the 1994 Rwanda genocide that killed 800,000 of her countrymen. She and seven women hid for 91 days in a cramped bathroom of a local pastor’s house, miraculously eluding the machete-wielding gangs that ultimately killed most of her family.
As a survivor, Ilibagiza, a Catholic, developed a profound relationship with God and embraced forgiveness over revenge. She established the Left to Tell Charitable Fund to help others heal from the effects of genocide and war.
Ilibagiza, 37, has spoken to audiences around the world and has told her story on CBS’s “60 Minutes.” The recipient of numerous humanitarian awards, she lives in New York City with her husband and their two children.