Ethiopia’s Catholic Church Best Positioned for “mediation work, promoting peace”: Priest

Following this, Christians, mainly from the Tewahedo Orthodox Church of Ethiopia, were persecuted leading to deaths and injuries.

This prompted Pope Francis to ask for prayers for the  victimized Christians, a call the local Church has heeded. 

“The socio-political condition of the country in general is a little bit volatile now” while the Middle East through Jawar remains “a serious threat for Christians in Ethiopia,” Fr. Berga said referencing the state of things after Janwar and the country’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met and agreed to bring an end to the conflict.

The Ethiopian cleric further explained, “The serious danger is a threat from the Middle East. A certain ethno-religious activist named Jawar Mohammed, with illicit finance from the Middle East, mostly from Egypt, has become a serious threat for Christians in Ethiopia.” 

“The activists use the Oromo youth as an instrument to cause conflict,” the cleric lamented and added in reference to the activists and their religious motivation, “They use ethnicity to mobilize the young people easily but the violence and attacks have more of a religious than ethnic dimension.”

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Citing the social problem of unemployment in the country as a factor in the conflict, Fr. Berga noted, “The youth are already disenchanted due to scarcity of work and employment and now they are exposed to violence due to the turmoil.”

As an intervention, Fr. Berga said, the Catholic Church is working toward “empowering the young people,” particularly through “pastoral and skill development and capacity building of the youth in the periphery.”

“Even if it is difficult to predict how the situation will evolve, we are optimistic that things will improve over time,” Fr. Berga told Aid to Church in Need.

“Ethiopians have lived sided-by-side for centuries, we are confident the values they share will keep them united to face these difficult situations,” Fr. Berga said and concluded, “Ethiopians are very religious people and the prayers of the faithful will be answered. God will protect Ethiopia from the danger of disintegration.”

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.