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Six religious sisters of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent and an Ursuline nun were released by Ethiopian security forces on 15 January after over 40 days of detention. BY LISA
ZENGARINI Seven Catholic ethnic Tigrayan nuns arrested by Ethiopian security forces in November last year have been freed and are reportedly in good health conditions. The Vatican's
Fides News Agency reported that Sisters Letemaryam Sibhat, Tiblets Teum, Abeba Tesfay, Zaid Moss, Abeba Hagos, and Abeba Fitwi of the Congregation of Sisters of the Daughters of Charity of
St. Vincent de Paul, and Ursuline Sister Abrehet Teserma, were released on 15 January. TWO DEACONS AND TWO NUNS STILL DETAINED The nuns had been abducted on 30 November, in the context of
the 14-month war over the Tigray region. The two Deacons arrested with them and two other nuns from Kobo are still detained along with thousands of ethnic Tigrayans, and even Eritrean
refugees, suspected of supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). CRACKDOWN ON SUSPECTS In the crackdown against suspected rebels, a number of Catholic religious and lay people
have also been arrested. On 5 November, a Salesian education center in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa was raided by military forces, and 17 religious and lay people were taken away in a
van. They were released on 13 November after been interrogated. CIVIL WAR IN ETHIOPIA War erupted in Ethiopia on 4 November 2020, after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed launched an offensive
against the separatist Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) following an attack against federal military bases. Ahmed promised a swift victory, but the fighting has escalated into a
widespread conflict involving ethnic-based militias as well as Eritrean armed forces, with reports of serious human rights violations on both sides. 08/01/2022 In his Christmas message
issued on January 6, the head of the Ethiopian Bishops' Conference asks the faithfull to ask God for the gift of forgiveness and peace in the country, ... HUMANITARIAN CRISIS The
conflict eased slightly during the Christmas period, after TPLF declared a unilateral ceasefire and its withdrawal from the Amhara and Afar regions in what the group called a gesture of
willingness to start negotiations. The situation, however, still remains tense, while the humanitarian crisis in Tigray continues to grow, with seven million people with no food, healthcare,
medicines and electricity. Meanwhile, the Nobel Committee has urged Prime Minister Abiy, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, to commit to end the war. Over 2 million people have been
displaced as a result of the conflict and famine has been officially declared in the region.
