By Rahab Kuria
ADDIS ABABA, JULY 23, 2021 (CISA) -The Catholic Bishops conference of Ethiopia (CBCE) has called for peace, reconciliation and stability in the country, advocating for dialogue and negotiation to settle the differences between fighting parties in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.
“We have prayed for the peace of our country and the safety of our people. We have made a special prayer for His Excellency Abune Tesfasilassie Medhin, Eparch of Adigrat, who was not able to join the assembly for the last one year due to the war in Tigray and suffering continuously together with his people, and for the clergy, religious men and women and all Catholic faithful who have been passing through the war and the attached humanitarian crisis,” the bishops said in a statement issued at the end of their ordinary assembly on July 21.
“…It saddens our hearts hearing about war while we all would like to hear about peace and reconciliation…we all want to see a country where all Ethiopians embrace each other as brothers and sisters. We kindly urge all parties involved that war only destroys lives and properties and nothing more and the choice to be made should not be a war but peace and reconciliation,” the bishops added.
In their statement the bishops said war is never a remedy for wrongs or a solution to a crisis. War has brought untold suffering and the price that innocent people have paid is incalculable. They further expressed closeness with all those whose lives have been affected by the violence.
“It is never too late to stop the violence, to acknowledge that the only way forward, for the good of the people, is peace and reconciliation, to satisfy the demands of truth and justice, to ask for and grant forgiveness, to do what is necessary to restore mutual trust, to recognize others as our brothers and sisters, no matter who they are and how deep our disagreements are, and to settle any differences through dialogue and negotiation, ”the prelates said adding that is the only way the country, the society and the church can heal together.
