ACN News - Villagers attack Church compound in Ethiopia

By John Newton

A Bishop in Ethiopia has expressed his horror after the Feb. 18, 2016, torching and looting of a Church compound by the very people being helped by priests and women religious.

In a message sent to international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Abraham Desta described how Gighessa parish—“one of the oldest and biggest parishes of the Vicariate of Meki”—was attacked by “the people for whom, and with whom, we work very closely.”

Bishop Desta, the Apostolic Vicar of Meki, described how villagers “including  young and old, women and children… started throwing stones and destroying Church properties,” including the rectory, diocesan pastoral center, a small Ursuline convent and a clinic specializing in care for the handicapped.

More than 55 people from around the world attending a conference on nursery education at the pastoral center were whisked to safety, but the Sisters stayed behind, refusing to leave patients at their clinic, until eventually they too fled the scene.

Having set fire to the rectory, the attackers made off with a year’s supply of food, as well as livestock including cows.

Bishop Desta added: “The Ursuline Sisters who run the clinic were left behind with the patients as they were not willing to leave the patients alone, but the people did not spare them.”

Having demanded that all the clinic’s goods be handed over, the mob “began to destroy and to take away everything including the personal clothes in front of the Sisters.”

The prelate reported: “Sad to say, no one went to help the Sisters, but by God’s grace they managed to reach Shashamane, the nearest parish, along with the patients and spend that night there. The patients are currently being cared for in Shashamane.”

“They have lost everything, except the precious gift of life that is being given freely by God almighty,” the bishop said.

The bishop expressed his shock that “all this [was] done by the local people whom [the Sisters] were serving, whom they know very well – if not all [then] at least a good number of them.”

The conference center was looted, the bishop said: The mob “carried away all that belonged to the center, including  more than 250 beds, mattresses, some 700 blankets,  bed sheets, bed covers, as well as washing machines, televisions, generators, copier machines, and computers—even the doors and windows of the” building, which was left completely damaged and barren.”

The attackers also seized more 26,455 pounds of food, including wheat, rice, and pasta—the center’s supply for the whole year. Cows and chickens, which were kept on a small holding attached to the parish, were also taken. The only building in the compound that was not attacked was the school.

Bishop Desta added: “Today there is a question in our hearts and minds. Why Lord? Why like this? I hope that in due time the Lord will give us an answer.”

Part of the damage done to the Church compound in Meki (© ACN)

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.  ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work in over 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information contact Michael Varenne at michael@churchinneed.org or call 718-609-0939 or fax718-609-0938. Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard Street, PO Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222-0384.  www.churchinneed.org

Meatless Recipe - Pasta with Red Clam Sauce

This recipe is easy and perfect for Lent because we are using canned clams.

Ingredients:

2 small cans of clams (one minced and one chopped)
1 onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup Extra virgin olive oil
1 large can of whole plum tomatoes
Pinch of red pepper flakes, or more to taste
Fresh parsley (I didn't have any but it does make the sauce better)
Salt and pepper
1 lb uncooked pasta, such as linguine or spaghetti, cooked and drained

Heat the oil in a pot and then add the garlic and onion.  Cook until the onions are soft.  Add the clam juice, but not the clams.  Add the tomatoes, making sure to either chop or crush with your (clean) hands before adding to the pot.  Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  Bring to a boil at medium high heat, then lower to low.  Simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes.  Then add the clams and chopped parsley.

Serve over hot pasta.

ACN News - Fear of suicide bombers in Cameroon

On Friday Feb. 19, 2016, a double suicide bombing in a marketplace in Mémé in northern Cameroon claimed the lives of at least 20 people and left several dozen injured. The attack, by two female suicide bombers, is thought to have been the work of Boko Haram. According to the government, more than 1200 people have been killed since 2013 in the extreme northern region of the country. Bishop Bruno Ateba Edo of the Diocese of Maroua-Mokolo, which covers this region, spoke with international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN)

By Amélie de la Hougue

Who are these attacks meant to be targeting?

Bishop Ateba Edo: It’s the entire population they are targeting! Whether they are Muslims, Christians, or animists, it’s the entire population you are attacking in a crowded marketplace!

How are the people of Cameroon reacting?

Everybody is afraid of the suicide bombers. There is a kind of psychosis. Whenever people gather together, as they do at markets, people don’t know who is who, and it is impossible to keep tabs on everyone… In the villages they have set up community watch committees in an attempt to protect these places, but despite that, attackers are frequently able to infiltrate.

Are you witnessing an exodus of the population in northern Cameroon?

The suicide bombers generally work along the frontier, except that occasionally there are attacks elsewhere—as in fact happened at Mémé, which is about 22 miles from the border with Nigeria. Many people are taking shelter in Maroua, which is the major town in the area and a little further inland.

It is generally safer in the towns; the problem is nearer to the border, because it is very porous. Here the same major ethnic group, the same family is often in different countries, with the uncle in Cameroon, the sister in Nigeria … Sometimes even part of one house is in Cameroon and another part in Nigeria.

Have relations change between Muslims and Christians with the spread of Boko Haram?

There is a good dialogue between the Christians and the Muslims, and good collaboration. For example, the children of the village chief often attend our Catholic schools. We are all afraid of the suicide bombers, whether we are Muslims or Christians.

Observers claim that Boko Haram seems to be weakening. What do you think about that?

Militarily speaking, they are already defeated. But there are still the suicide bombers. Previously there were armed attacks, but now there are these isolated bombing.

What is the Church doing to reassure the faithful?

We are preaching hope and we are praying for peace. We have a prayer for peace which I myself composed, and we pray it every day after Holy Mass. We have also called upon our Catholic faithful to show acts of mercy towards the refugees—both the internally displaced and the refugees from Nigeria.

We tell our people that despite the suicide bombers, and despite the war, our prayers will help us greatly.

Bishop Bruno Ateba Ebo (l) and Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme of Maiduguri, Nigeria visiting refugees in Cameroon (© ACN)

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.  ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work in over 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information contact Michael Varenne at michael@churchinneed.org or call 718-609-0939 or fax718-609-0938. Aid to the Church in Need, 725 Leonard Street, PO Box 220384, Brooklyn, NY 11222-0384.  www.churchinneed.org