February 01, 2007
Queens, NY -
St. John’s University’s Vincentian Mission for Church and
Society concluded its Founder’s Week
celebration honoring St. Vincent de Paul on January 31 with a
powerful lecture by Rwandan genocide survivor Immaculée Ilibagiza
titled Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Pathway to Solidarity. The
lecture, attended by an overflow crowd of more than 400 students,
faculty and administrators in St. John’s Little Theatre on the
Queens campus, ran the emotional gamut of laughter, tears and hope
as Ilibagiza told her unimaginable story of 91 terrifying days
hidden from vicious killers during a modern day Holocaust that took
the lives of more than one million people in her native Rwanda.
Her book, Left to Tell, chronicles her inspiring
journey and her will to forgive as a part of the healing process
and to come to grips with the loss of her mother, father and two
brothers.
Ilibagiza recites a passage from the bible that hit home with
her during her daily prayer that put her struggle into
perspective.
“I read a passage in the Bible as Jesus was dying on the cross
and he called out to God and said, ‘Forgive them Father for they
know not what they do.’ That reflection changed my life around and
was the beginning of my freedom to let go of all the anger and
bitterness,” said Ilibagiza. “It was a weight taken off my
shoulders.”
Through all of her pain, Ilibagiza kept coming back to the
positives that could be drawn from her experiences in life – those
which God would have wanted her to profess so that others could
benefit from her strife.
“The pain can be a blessing,” Ilibagiza added. “I have gone on
to touch many lives that I would have never come in contact with if
not for my story. It has given me strength and by the power of God,
the ability to forgive and move on in my life. To love and to care
is my challenge today and that is the message I want to leave
beyond.”
Ilibagiza’s one hour lecture and thirty minute question and
answer session captivated the audience, many of whom stayed well
after the event had concluded for a chance to meet, hug and take
pictures with the author, who was equally moved by the
experience.
Earlier in the day, Ilibagiza spoke at a press conference to
local media members prior to her lecture in the University’s
Taffner Field House.
A
transcript of Ilibagiza’s quotes from the lecture and press
conference can be found on the St. John’s University web site and
information on her book Left to Tell is available by
navigating to her Web site at www.LeftToTell.com.
For more information on the lecture or Founder’s Week
activities, please contact Dominic Scianna, Director of Media
Relations at (718) 990-6185 or e-mail inquiries to sciannad@stjohns.edu.