“We feel so overwhelmed, helpless”: Catholic Bishop in Ethiopia Sends out Heartfelt Prayer for Kidnapped Priest

The source whose identity is withheld for fear of retribution told ACI Africa that Fr. Habtewold was abducted by members of the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), an armed rebel group which is said to be active in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia surrounding Harar Apostolic Vicariate.

Fr. Habtewold is said to have been abducted with 12 other people who have since been released.

“Yesterday one of Harar priests was abducted by the OLA. The Oromo rebels are asking for a ransom,” the source told ACI Africa on March 24, a day following the kidnapping, and added, “The 12 taken with him were unrelated to him. He was using a boda-boda (motorbike). It seems the OLA is asking 800,000 birr (USD 6,033) for the priest's freedom.”

Later, the source informed ACI Africa that Bishop Angelo Pagano of Harar had availed some 6,000 Euros to the kidnappers and was convinced that the kidnapped Priest had regained his freedom.

The source recalled that Bishop Pagano had put out a note, saying that Fr. Habtewold had been freed by the rebels, but that “it was not true.”

“A moment, we don’t know what happened to him,” the source said, and added, “The rebels were given the money, but they did not give us the Priest.”

According to the ACI Africa source, Fr. Habtewold’s nephew called the abductors on the phone number that had been used to wire the funds for ransom, seeking to find out what had happened to his uncle.

The nephew is said to have received heart-wrenching news about the kidnapped Priest from the kidnappers, the source said, and added, “They told him, ‘Don’t phone us again. We have already buried him,’” said the source.

“Up to this moment, we don’t know what happened to Abba Habte,” the source said, and added, “We don’t know where he is, whether he is alive or dead. We know that the Bishop of Harar opened a police case to seek clarification about what happened… But we keep praying that wherever he is, he may be at peace.”

The OLA has been fighting the Ethiopian federal government since it split in 2018 with the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), which renounced armed struggle that year.

Estimated at a few thousand men in 2018, the OLA's strength has reportedly increased significantly in recent years, posing a significant threat to the federal government.

The ACI Africa source said that the OLA has not been operating in Hararge, the capital of Harar. “They operate ... in Guji land, Arsi and Wollega,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bishop Getachew has prayed that Fr.  Habtewold be found soon.

He prays that God gives courage to the missing Priest’s family, as well as to the people of God in the Apostolic Vicariate of Harar, for them to stay strong and wait for God’s “miraculous intervention”.

Here is Bishop Getachew’s full prayer:

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Dear Loving God,

We cry out to You on behalf of our beloved priest Rev. Abba Habtewold who is missing. We anxiously and patiently await his safe return or just to hear news of his whereabouts.

Even though you said be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let our request be known, it is heart-wrenching not knowing where he is.

We feel so overwhelmed and helpless.

Lord, You said You would never leave us or forsake us, so we continue to trust and hope in the mighty working power of the Holy Spirit that he will be found very soon.

Give your loving courage to Abbatachin Abune Angelo, his priests, Abba Habtewold’s family, religious men and women and people of the Apostolic Vicariate of Harar to stay strong and wait for your miraculous intervention at this most difficult and seemingly insurmountable challenge they are going through.

We ask this through Christ our Lord! Amen!

St. Anthony of Padua, Patron saint of the Lost, pray for us!!