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Eastern African bishops’ delegation visits Ethiopia to help restore peace

Five million people are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance following war between Ethiopian forces and the Tigray People's Liberation Front

La Croix International

A delegation from the Association of Bishops' Conferences of East Africa (AMECEA) is visiting the Ethiopian Bishops' Conference to help restore peace in Ethiopia.

The visit is a sign of solidarity and an opportunity to seek the best possible ways to help overcome the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, said AMECEA Secretary General Father Anthony Makunde. 

The AMECEA delegation is on a three-day visit.

"It was an opportunity to share the best way to collaborate and involve AMECEA members in the process of restoring peace", said Father Makunde, Fides reported Sept. 13. 

"The Church has always preached the gospel of peace and that war has never been a solution to problems", he said.

The AMECEA official called on people to continue praying for peace and to participate in efforts to increase humanitarian aid for internally displaced persons and people in refugee camps. 

According to Father Paul Mung'athia Igweta, AMECEA Coordinator for the Department for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, who was part of the delegation, "support and physical presence in Ethiopia are the key to showing solidarity with the Ethiopian population". 

Father Igweta stressed that the situation in Ethiopia requires dialogue and understanding. "The conflict cannot be resolved through a military solution, but through dialogue", he said.

A report from the Ethiopian Bishops' Conference, published following the AMECEA delegation's visit to Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel of Addis Ababa, emphasized the role of the Catholic Church in the peace and reconciliation process.

"The Ethiopian Bishops' Conference has issued a series of declarations to promote dialogue, peace and reconciliation, inviting all the faithful and people of good will to be instruments of peace. The Church has played a significant role in mobilizing humanitarian aid and in collaboration with its partners", it read.  

Pope Francis, during his September 8 audience had a special word of greeting for the people of Ethiopia, celebrate the beginning of the New Year – according to the Ethiopian calendar – on September 11.

“I extend my heartfelt and affectionate greeting to the Ethiopian people,” he said, “and especially to those who are suffering due to the ongoing conflict and the grave humanitarian situation it has cause.”

He added his hopes that the New Year “might be a time of fraternity and solidarity, in which we listen to the common desire for peace.” 

War broke out in the mountainous area last November between Ethiopian troops and the Tigray People's Liberation Front that controls the region. 

The violence in northern Ethiopia has triggered a severe humanitarian crisis with millions of displaced persons and accusations of rights violations. 

Some 900,000 people are already living in famine conditions, and 5 million others are in urgent need of assistance.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize has continued with his military campaign against the Tigray region despite international pleas to pursue dialogue with the Tigray People's Liberation Front.

Tigrayans are only a small minority of about 5 percent in a country of 109 million. But they have dominated Ethiopia's power structures since 1991 until Abiy took office in 2018.

Tigrayans belong to a region that is wealthier and more influential than many other, larger, regions and are reportedly fighting Abiy's efforts to remove them from power.