An Eritrean Eritrean Orthodox priest Father Mussie shishay send letter (date 15/12/2014) to Pope Francis about persecution of Christians in Eritrea.

An Eritrean Eritrean Orthodox priest Father Mussie shishay send letter (date 15/12/2014) to Pope Francis about persecution of Christians in Eritrea.
in other news He is sending @emeil for Russian Orthodox Patriarch His Holiness Kirill http://etiqalsgakone.blogspot.ch/2014/12/an-eritrean-eritrean-orthodox-priest_22.htmlAnd other religious and governmental world wide organizations.

read the Letter,

 

father mussie Shishay at the moment of  tragedy Lampedusa.

Date: November 22. 2014

His Holiness, Pope Francis 
Apostolic Palace 
00120 Vatican City  

Eritrean Tewahdo Orthodox Church in Switzerland and Freedom of Religion in Eritrea.

“Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.” - Hebrews 13:3

“Open your mouth, judge righteously; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” - Proverbs 31:9

Peace and love with mercy be unto you from God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord and Sovereign.

This is Priest Mussie Shishay. I am a Priest in Eritrean Orthodox Church. Right now, I am in exile because I was heavily persecuted for my Christian faith back in my country. I crossed the dangerous route of the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea which took the lives of thousands of my countrymen in order to seek asylum in Europe. It is to be noted, last year near the Island of Lampedusa a boat capsized and there happened unparalleled tragic event in the Mediterranean Sea. The accident claimed more than 350 death tolls.

 

I am a glaring example of this sad reality. My soul still could not be condoled. My soul still disquiets inside me. My beloved sister perished along the 350 souls. My sorrow knows no bounds. I always lament before the living God. My beautiful and heaven-bound sister Mrs. Hagerawit Shishay died there. She was in her tender ages. She left behind a 3 year old son. She was 23 when she died. May the Lord put an end to the agony of my fellow- Eritreans.

Now, I am freely serving as an Orthodox Priest in Switzerland in a church called Medhane Alem which is to say in interpretation--Savior of the World--Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Zurich Switzerland..

Despite the fact I am in a safer and comfortable place, I do not want to forget the misery of my spiritual fathers and brothers who are languishing in prisons, solitary confinements and military camps of Eritrea. I am appealing to you as your son to be a voice to those Christians who are perishing in Eritrea's dungeons and notorious prisons. Apart from the benevolent God, they do not have anyone to defend them in this world (Proverbs 31:8).

His Holiness Pope Francis, we Eritrean Christians are forced to exile because of the severe persecution inflicted upon us by the current regime in our country. The government of Eritrea waged a war upon our faith. There are more than 3000 Christians in different prison cells in Eritrea because of their faith. All this is without any kind of proper judicial procedure. Now days, the greatest crime in Eritrea is believing in Jesus. Among the prisoners are:-

3rd Eritrean patriarch Antonios first.and other leaders of the church who have since been locked up in Eritrean jails include

Priest Gebremedhin Gebregergish. From the Patriarch Office.

(“Mentor”) in the Eritrean Orthodox Church) Merigeta Ytbarek Berhe. from the patriarch Office.

Priest Doctor Fitsum Gebrenegus (An excellent Psychiatrist in the horn of Africa), Mekane Hiwet Sunday school. His wife Mrs. Almaz died in June, 2013 and he still does not know about that. He is in a prison of incommunicado. His only begotten son is living as an orphan. His precious mom died and his father is jailed. As his father is in a prison of incommunicado, he has not seen him for the last ten years. I cannot hold back my tears. Dear Lord Jesus please see us through. The suffering of my people has reached the climax.

Priest Doctor Tekleab Mengisteab (Medical Doctor)

From Adi Bakakay Teacher Aqaqam Aba Emeha,

Aba Tesfaldet from Monastery

Aba Habtesmacheal Monastery Debresina and 200 Priests and Monks and deacons.

The Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. There are also many Orthodox Priests, Deacons, Teachers and Leaders of the Church in Eritrea who are in prison.

I plea on behalf of “The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church in Switzerland and Freedom of Religion in Eritrea” to the Vatican Church by realizing the misery of her sisterly Church in Eritrea (Galatians 3:26-28) to make a call to the Eritrean government on behalf of His Holiness Patriarch Antonios and the many incarcerated Eritrean Christian and the thousands young Eritreans who have been victims of human trafficking. Justice has been perverted in Eritrea for long. (Habakkuk 1:4).

His Holiness Patriarch Antonios as a true child of God and a kind spiritual father loves the needy and comfort the hungry; and after serving in different capacities as a Monk for more than 35 years he became a Bishop. Then while he was serving as a Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church, he has become a victim of persecution till this day.

Right after the imprisonment of the Third Patriarch Antonios the first, about 2000 Priests have been scattered from their spiritual service, Churches and their country. Out of these 30 Priests are in prison. And the families of the prisoners are not allowed to visit them and no one knows whether they are still alive or dead. And 14 priests and deacons are prohibited to enter into the compound of the holy Church; and 10 spiritual fathers are in a house arrest inside the city of Asmara. His holiness, owing to the current regime, Eritrea has turned out to be a giant prison. Everyone lives in fear and misery.

And because of severe persecution inflicted upon them 49 servants of the office of the Patriarch and the national Diocese; and 32 spiritual fathers and monks in a monastery; and 5 female monastic monks (one of them is here in Switzerland seeking for asylum) fled from Eritrea to save their lives. In total around 1700 servants of the Orthodox Church are in exile. Moreover 1350 Priests and Deacons despite their Priestly order do not allow it; they are currently in a forced military conscription. The severe persecution imposed upon Eritrean believers of Christ could not be fully expressed in words.

I want to mention here, there is mandatory unlimited national service which many coin it as national slavery for every Eritrean. Though the government claims Eritreans (Both male and female) above 18 should serve in the military for 18 months. They stay there for unlimited years. There are people in the military since 1994. Besides, in violation to the charters of the UN, children are also forcefully recruited to serve in the military. 16 year old, 15 and 14 are there.

According to the above mentioned figure more than 3500 Monks, Priests, Deacons, Teachers and Servants of the Church are either in a forced military conscription or in exile. This loss of spiritual servants causes a much regrettable damage to the needy Eritrean Church. In consequence there is an acute shortage of Priests and Deacons in Eritrea specially in those churches which are located in rural areas. Those religious students who spent many years to study the Christian faith in monasteries, instead of shepherding the believers are forced to leave their country. Recently more than 10 Monks fled to the neighboring country Ethiopia and we could not even able to assist them because of our own deficiency. Here the most distressing issue is our young people who suppose to lead the church in the near future are leaving the Orthodox Church because of inside and outside pressures.

The population in Eritrea was 50% Christians and 50% Muslims. Nonetheless, now days owing to the unequaled mass exodus, Islam has become the predominant religion of the country. Recent figures indicate 62% of the Eritrean population adheres Sunni Islam. The real cause is the objective situation of the country and the flow of Eritrean productive youths to neighbouring countries and Europe. In 2014 alone, more than 37,000 Eritrea Christians asked an asylum in Europe. Majority of the asylum seekers are Christians of the different sects, viz Orthodox, Catholics and mainstream Protestants.

The Eritrean Orthodox Church is divided into different groups because of the Eritrean government daily interference in the private affairs of the Church. As they strike the Shepherd they could able to scatter the sheep of the flock (Matthew 26:31). Some churches are already been closed not only because of the regime's hostile policy towards religious teachings and ministry in Sunday school; but also because of there is an acute shortage of Priests and Deacons. In addition the Bishops in Eritrea have no power to make an independent crucial decision and give spiritual guidance. They are under severe repression by the Eritrean regime. The government controls every activity of the church including tithes and offerings. This is all done through inside collaborators of the regime. And sadly this all happen while many true servants of the church are forced to exile in Ethiopia, Sudan, Israel, Europe and North America.  

His Holiness Pope Francis, Eritrea is among the top ten countries in persecuting Christians in the world. Some people call it the North Korea of Africa. Apparently speaking, if it is allowed to continue like this Christianity will be weakened and Christians will be extinct in Eritrea; and other evil forces like the Islamic State (IS) will fill the vacuum.

His Holiness, Eritrea gained its independence after 30 years of bloody war with Ethiopia. More than 100,000 Eritreans died to bring independence and to safe-guard the nation. The reigning Junta government was among the people who brought independence and whom the Eritrean people hoped on. Unfortunately, the current regime is tirelessly working to destabilize the most volatile zone of Africa—Horn of Africa. Besides, it is working to wipe off Christianity from Eritrea. It blatantly claims that there exists no God and no supernatural law. It is this kind of government who is in power in Eritrea and whose people live in a daily threat.

His Holiness Patriarch Antonios is 88 years old and a diabetic and a high blood pressure patient; and our holy father is suffering without proper medical attention since his imprisonment in 2007. He is also denied to go abroad for medical treatment. Therefore this is a plea on behalf of our holy father so that the Vatican Church through its spiritual authority upon the Vatican government, Italian government and together with other Churches and other governmental and non governmental agencies to make the necessary and right pressure for his release and the release of all Prisoners of Faith. And to demand the Eritrean government to respect freedom of religion in Eritrea and to respect the human rights of all Eritreans.

The long ill-devised and long hatred of the Eritrea’s government policy is not only for Orthodox Church (Let me be clear by saying Orthodox Church, it means the Eastern Orthodox Faction), other Christian brethren like, Catholics, Protestants and other denominations are also vulnerable.

In 9/01/2005, the Eritrean government’s security personnel broke in one prayer meetings of Catholic reformation and arrested as many as 30 faithful. Many Catholics are also in prison.

As many as 36 Pentecostal, 7^th day Adventist and other denomination’s churches have been closed since 2002 and many of their Pastors are in prison.

Among those who are in Prison since 2004 are

1. Pastor Kidane Weldu of Eritrean Full Gospel Church

2. Pastor Kiflu Gebremeskel of Eritrean Full Gospel Church

3. Rev Haile Naizghi of Full Gospel Church.

4. Pastor Abraham Belay of Full Gospel Church

5. And many other Pastors

All of them are in prisons of incommunicado. Their families are not allowed to visit them. No one knows their whereabouts. There is untold Christian persecution in my homeland. They have been in prison without any charge. Some of them are in arid places. In hostile places with temperature 47 degrees Celsius. They are denied of medical treatment. Many have been dying there. I know this lady by the name Azeb Simon, who died there.

His holiness, I am sure your voice combined with the voices of many people and the international community can bring about a drastic change. May the Lord Jesus bring change in my home-land.

N.B

Four Catholic Bishops in Eritrea issued a pastoral letter marking the 23rd anniversary of the country’s independence, which was celebrated on May 25, 2014.

The letter is entitled “Where is your brother?” and addresses the crisis of emigration in the country. As I afore-mentioned you, thousands of Eritreans have fled the country, seeking a better life in Europe. Many of them die trying to cross the Mediterranean, as happened off the Italian island of Lampedusa on October 3, 2013.

The bishops explore the causes of emigration, stating “there is no reason to search for a country of honey if you are in one…” 

It said the young people of Eritrea leaving in search of “peaceful countries.. countries of justice, of work, where one expresses himself loudly, a country where one works and earns.”

“On top of the crisis of people leaving their country,” the letter continues, “the family unit is fragmented because members are scattered in national service, army, rehabilitation centers, prisons, whereas the aged parents are left with no one to care for them and have been spiritually damaged. And all that combined is making the country desolate.”

The Bishops appealed for human treatment of prisoners and said, “All those who are arrested should first be handled humanely and sympathetically, and then, based on the accusations against them, they should be presented to a court and to resolve their cases, and since any entity that stands for fairness and justice, for true liberation, mainly aspires to be led by a constitutional law, they should pay serious attention to this issue.”

The four bishops are Mengsteab Tesfamariam, Eparch of the capital Asmara; Tomas Osman, Eparch of Barentu; Kidane Yeabio, Eparch of Keren; and Feqremariam Hagos, Eparch of Segeneti.

I really would like to extend my warm thanks and appreciation to these four bishops. To date, except these four bishops no one dared to present to the government on power about the objective situation of the country.

What inhumanity! Words indeed fail me to adequately tell you the ongoing Christian persecution in Eritrea. May the Lord’s round the clock protection be with all the prisoners.

Amnesty International, The government of USA, Open-doors and other organizations openly denounced the ongoing human-rights violation in Eritrea. The USA put Eritrea in a black list due to its current human rights aggression.

I am so grateful in His Holiness's effort to help our brothers and sisters in Christ who have been persecuted in the Middle Eastern countries; and the same way I plea to you the equal attention to be given to the plight of the Eritrean Christians (Proverbs 31:8).

Therefore the holy Church of Vatican may appeal to the Eritrean government:

1. As the health condition of our holy father is in a very critical condition and as it is deteriorating daily; he should be urgently released and get proper medical attention;

1. The holy father should be re-instituted to their rightful spiritual position;
2. The Eritrean government to stop interfering in the private affairs of the Eritrean Orthodox Church;
3. His Holiness Pope Francis to lead us from front in fighting modern day slavery of human trafficking in Sudan, Sinai Egypt and Libya, which mostly affects the Eritrean youth who fled from their home country because of severe oppression.
4. Immediate release of all the Christians who have been detained for a number of years.

Finally I humbly ask your prayer to those beloved brothers and sisters in Christ who are in Eritrea's prison and for the peace, justice and prosperity of the nation of Eritrea.

Sincerely yours,

Your Son Priest Mussie Shishay.

Email: fathermusieshishay@gmail.com

Switzerland