Pope Francis received members of the Nolite Timere [Do Not Fear] Association on January 27 and praised the charity for its work of assisting an orphanage in Rwanda.
“It was St. John Paul II who supported this initiative, to assist the many orphans caused by the terrible genocide in Rwanda in 1994,” Pope Francis said. “Ah, that genocide was terrible, it was terrible. Never forget, lest it happen again.”
Among those present at the audience was Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. As nuncio to Rwanda (1998-2003), he established the orphanage in the wake of the Rwanda genocide, which claimed the lives of over 800,000 people.