Ursuline Sisters “worried, saddened” about Prolonged Detainment of Colleague in Ethiopia

“Our Sisters go to bring her meals and basic necessities and are therefore in constant contact with her. But they are not allowed to meet her directly; they see her from afar, leave what she needs and go away,” Sr. Pedrini says, adding that despite being detained, Sr. Teserma appears calm.

Speaking on Sr. Teserma’s condition, the Superior General of the Ursuline Sisters says, “We can't say anything about her general condition because we haven't seen her up close since that day.”

The situation in Ethiopia remains tense 14 months after the start of a war that has spread beyond the Tigray region where it began on 4 November 2020.

Media reports indicate that tentative signs of calm date back to the pre-Christmas 2021 period, when the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) declared a unilateral ceasefire and an unconditional withdrawal from the Amhara and Afar regions.

Media reports further indicate that TPLF announced its intention to return to Tigray and “open the doors to humanitarian aid”, thus raising hopes of initial relief for the tens of thousands of civilians forced by the conflict to starve or flee.

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In the January 15 report, Sr. Pedrini tells Agenzia Fides that members of her Institute are “very concerned about the fate of Sr. Teserma” but have no choice other than upholding “deep faith.”

“We are all very concerned about the fate of Abrehet Teserma as well as the general situation, but we live this moment as an occasion of deep faith," the Italian Nun says, and adds, "We see that other Nuns find themselves in a similar situation and that they all share the impossibility of understanding the reasons.”

“It would be very important to know the reasons that led to the arrest, and also to decide on a course of action," she further says.

Sr. Pedrini also spoke on the initiatives of the Institute she heads to push for the release of Sr. Teserma, including involvement of the Secretariat of the Catholic Church in Ethiopia.

“Personally, I telephone every day and speak with our responsible in Addis Ababa, Sister Abrehet Cahasai, in some cases several times a day. From the very beginning we contacted the Secretariat of the Catholic Church in Ethiopia and await news,” the Superior General of the Ursuline Sisters is quoted as telling Agenzia Fides.

Expressing her hope in the release of Sr. Teserma, Sr. Pedrini says, “We have chosen to follow the advice of our coordinator in Ethiopia, relying on the Secretariat, and we hope to see results soon.”

Silas Mwale Isenjia is a Kenyan journalist with a great zeal and interest for Catholic Church related communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communication from Moi University in Kenya. Silas has vast experience in the Media production industry. He currently works as a Journalist for ACI Africa.