Catholic Bishop in Ethiopia Unable to See Priests as Situation in Tigray Remains Tense

He recalls the war that started in November 2020 and escalated in a full-scale humanitarian crisis in the years that followed before “a peace agreement” was signed in Pretoria, South Africa, in which the Ethiopian government and the TPLF pledged to “permanently silence the guns and end the two years of conflict in northern Ethiopia”. 

During his visit to the headquarters of ACN in Königstein, Germany, Bishop Medhin recalled the “real nightmare” of not knowing what was happening to the people of God under his pastoral care in the time he had not been able to visit them.

In the July 24 report, ACN indicates that the Bishop’s visit to the headquarters of the charity foundation is the first time that he has left his country since the signing of the “peace agreement”.

Bishop Medhin describes the war in the Northernmost region of his native country of Ethiopia as a genocidal act against the people, saying that the people in Tigray “have experienced hell”.

In September 2022, the United Nations International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia was already speaking of a “catastrophic humanitarian situation in Tigray”. Earlier, in June 2022, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said there were over 2.8 million displaced people.

Recounting the dark days of the war in the Horn of Africa nation, Bishop Medhin says in the ACN report, “There were gang rapes and murders in front of families. Even children and old women were among the victims.”

“Over one million people were killed. Torture and massacres took place; relief supplies were blocked,” adds the Catholic Church leader, whose Episcopal See encompasses the whole war-torn region of Tigray. 

“Everybody is traumatized!” Bishop Medhin further says, adding that some rape victims feel ashamed and have not dared to return home. Among them the risk of suicide has been very high, he adds, and continues, “These women have been physically and mentally destroyed.”

The Ethiopian Catholic Bishop, who has been at the helm of Adigrat Eparchy since his Episcopal Ordination in January 2002 says that during the conflict, he was already trying to build up a network of specialists to help the traumatized people and bring them medical assistance. 

“We were meeting together and rented a compound in the town that people could go discreetly for confidentially care,” he is quoted telling ACN in the July 24 report.  

Reflecting on the impact of the war on Adigrat Eparchy, Bishop Medhin says, “In the currently accessible regions of my Diocese the Church has suffered some 37 million euros of material damage. Yet the damage to human life and the psychological effects of the atrocities committed are immeasurable.”

ACN reports that in Tigray’s occupied regions, the schools remain closed, and the children have not received any formal education for four years. 

In the ACN report, Bishop Medhin says that where he is based, there are still more than 50,000 displaced people, who have been unable to return to their homeland. 

Freedom of movement is generally still very curtailed, because the streets are still unsafe, he says, and explains that thousands of people continue to die through violence, food shortages and a lack of basic care. 

“How can the world simply look on?” he laments.

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“I have the greatest appreciation for my colleagues in pastoral service,” he says, noting that because of the dangers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) left the country in the middle of the conflict. 

It is only women and men Religious, including more than 30 missionaries from overseas – and Diocesan Priests who did not run away, Bishop Medhin says, adding, “They stayed there, serving the people of Tigray.”

The dozens of missionaries, he says, “gave a perfect example of the ‘Suffering Servant’ from the Book of Isaiah, who gave his life for the salvation of others.”

In the July 24 report, ACN says that since the end of the war, the Diocese of Adigrat has been able to carry out projects for trauma healing for the countless people who have been maimed and disabled by explosions, and for all those unable to process the atrocities, which they experienced or witnessed. 

According to Bishop Medhin, overcoming experiences is impossible without facing up to what has happened, and can hardly be done without considering the spiritual dimension. 

“Our trauma healing programmes are Bible-based, because in my opinion trauma healing is not complete without faith,” the 71-year-old Catholic Church leader is quoted as saying in the report in which ACN says that in the future, it wants to support his Episcopal See with further trauma healing projects.