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| H.E. Cardinal Berhaneyesus and Captain Tessama Belay |
Cardinal Berhaneyesus welcomed the former ‘Derg’ communist regime political leaders who imprisoned him for 7 months. The political leaders paid a visit to his office to congratulate him for his elevation to the Cardinalate.
On the occasion, the group leader Captain Fikresilassie Wegderes said that it is a great pleasure for them to be at the Cardinal’s office and congratulate him for this honor. “You mean a lot to us Your Eminence, as you were by our side at the most difficult time of our lives, you have thought of us in prayer, you loved us, you pleaded for our forgiveness love; and most of all, you were our voice,” said Captain Fikressielassie.
He thanked His Eminence and the Catholic Church for Her role in their release so that they can be reunited with their families. “Many thanks to you and other religious leaders for your contribution to our release for that we are living a free and peaceful life with our families,” he said adding that “You went through many complicated processes for our release and it will remain in our heart forever.”
Another official, Captain Tessama Belay who imprisoned H.E. Berhaneyesus, recalled the time of his encounter with His Eminence in Jimma when he imprisoned him and then he talked about the time they met again when the religious leaders visited them in prison. “When I asked you for forgiveness, I did not have to repeat it again, you told me right away that you had forgiven me a long time ago,” he said adding that, “We all have a unique feeling for you and the Catholic Church as you were there for us in our time of need, you have thought us a lot.”
His Eminence Cardinal Berhaneyesus, C.M., at that time a young priest working in Keffa and Jimma area, was among many religious leaders who were imprisoned by the ‘Derg’ Communist regime. H.E. Cardinal Berhaneyesus had on different occasions visited Captain Tessema while he was in prison and he had even comforted his family.
His Eminence Cardinal Berhaneyesus, C.M on his part repeated his call for forgiveness and how important was it to one another. He explained that the National Committee is still active and efforts of achieving national reconciliation are ongoing. He said the Catholic Church will continue to do her part as member of the committee and on the other side the Church will also work to contribute to the rehabilitation process of both the victims of the ‘Derg’ Regime and some of the released former officials who are less fortunate. He thanked them for their kind congratulatory words and closed by saying a prayer together.
The Former ‘Derg’ communist regime officials were sentenced to death for the crimes they committed while they were in office. The Catholic Church along with other religious institutions in the country engaged in continuous discussion with the government to request pardon from the death penalty which was the sentence court had passed.
The Catholic Church in Ethiopia had been working vigorously to achieve national reconciliation among the officials of the Former ‘Derg’ communist regime and the people of Ethiopia. A committee was established for the purpose of national reconciliation which travelled to many different parts of the country.
After gaining the people’s acceptance of the request for reconciliation, discussion with the government continued. Finally their sentence was reduced to life time in prison which meant, according to the Ethiopian law is 25 years. 5 years was deducted from their sentence with parole and they were released after 20 years in prison 3 years ago. One of the first things they did after their release was visit H.E. Cardinal Berhaneyesus, C.M to thank him personally for all his kind efforts and mercy.
By Makeda Yohannes, Social Communications and Public Relations Officer, Ethiopian Catholic Bishops Conference