Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
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| Ethiopia-protest |
The government of Ethiopia on Tuesday, November 2, declared a six-month state of emergency nationwide after forces from the northern region of Tigray said they were gaining territory and considering marching on to the country’s capital, Addis Ababa.
“I am following with a lot of concern the news coming from the Horn of Africa, in particular Ethiopia, shaken by a conflict that has been enduring for more than a year which has caused numerous victims and a great humanitarian crisis,” Pope Francis said on Sunday to the public at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican.
He is asking for continued prayers for peace and dialogue saying, "I invite everyone to pray for those peoples so harshly struggling, and I renew my appeal that fraternal harmony and a peaceful path of dialogue prevail."
Ethiopia has had a protracted fight following armed conflict between Ethiopia’s Federal Government and the Tigray regional State led by the political party of Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) that has led to blood shade, loss of lives and many people fleeing the country.
At the commencement of the war November 2020, the Catholic Bishops in Ethiopiaurged the concerned parties to “immediately stop the armed conflict and start peaceful dialogue for the benefit of the people and resolve their difference in the spirit of understanding, mutual respect and trust.”
They further warned that, “Conflict between brotherly people does not help anyone. Instead, it destroys lives of innocent people and is an act that will turn our country into a failure and extreme poverty.”
