Catholic Bishops of Eritrea

“Peace to those who are far off

and peace to those who are near” (Eph 2:17)

An appeal for Peace and National Reconciliation Pastoral Letter

Greetings

1. Dear children in the Lord, our beloved people, all you seekers of peace: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph 1:2). “For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh” (Eph 2:14). It was he who reconciled us with God (cf. 2 Cor 5:18) and “came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near” (Eph 2:17). In offering you this pastoral letter, we greet you with the hope that “his peace and grace may be with you”, that peace which he himself has promised us and the world cannot give. Let He who triumphed over death, and by his resurrection reconciled heaven with earth and man with God, pour out upon you the abundance of his blessings and give you the Spirit of reconciliation. To all of us who during this time celebrate his Easter, may he give not only the hope that we will rise again after the death of the flesh, but also the certainty of the final victory over the forces of evil which, in this life, surround us and undermine us.

Introduction

2. “[You] make us glad as many days as you humbled us, for as many years as we have seen trouble” (Ps 90:15). Since June 2018, we have witnessed, in the relations between our country and neighbouring Ethiopia, events that have aroused joy and hope everywhere. We are therefore right to repeat: “We rejoiced and we were glad”. Without forgetting what we must not forget, let us raise to the Lord a hymn of thanksgiving worthy of his immeasurable greatness and goodness, for having touched the hearts and moved the souls of those responsible, and for having led us to such goals. It is our firm confidence that the Lord will not fail to give us, within our nation, the same courage and determination that made possible the rapprochement between the two countries as well as the removal of the wall of enmity that opposed them: so, even for us, will fall the fences that the historical circumstances have sadly contributed to raise among us, and we too can be reconciled, with our history, with ourselves and with our brothers.

“You tested us, O God, tried us as silver tried by fire…we went through fire and water; then you led us out to freedom” (Ps 66:10-12). Now what remains is to wish that the Lord may bring these beginnings to fulfilment in us for a fuller and more lasting peace and prosperity.

3. Faced with the unfolding of the events mentioned above, and retracing with our minds the various phases of a past steeped in suffering, tears and mourning, we cannot refrain from making our voices heard. The very role we are called to play by virtue of our pastoral mandate would not allow us to do so. What pushes us to speak is nothing other than the love we have for our people and our responsibilities towards them.

At this moment, there come to our mind all those people – children, brothers and sisters – who have gone through the tremendous experiences of cruel imprisonments, inhuman kidnappings and mutilations of organs. Their families, too,  who have shed so many tears for them, deserve to be remembered as do those who, in similar circumstances, have left the scene of this world. With the same intensity we recall all those who have been mown down by death in crossing the borders of this or that country, of boundless and fiery deserts and at the mercy of fish in the waves of the seas. The appalling news of the death of some has been collected. Of others it has been known that they have had the honour, if it can be so called, of some form of burial in foreign lands. Others have disappeared into thin air like mysterious meteorites. For each and every one of them, children of this nation and of all of us, we invoke endless joy in the embrace of God the Father. Parents and relatives who mourn their irreparable loss can be sure of our supportive solidarity and the invocation of divine consolation. With the sad events just mentioned here, a tragic page of our history has been written. If we say that it must not be forgotten, it is certainly not in order to nurture or, even less, legitimize feelings of hatred and vengeance, of which we all know the destructive power, but only as a perpetual reminder so that such events may not be repeated ever again.

To all of you who, forced to leave your families and your beloved homeland, are suffering the bitterness of remoteness and exile, we say: you are always in our thoughts and in our hearts. No less so are you who still live close to us, in our land, withstanding and bearing everything, with your gaze outstretched, full of hope, beyond the contingencies of the present moment, waiting for times finally new and better for all. In the words of St. Paul, “peace to those who are far off, peace to those who are near” (Eph 2:17), we greet and wish you all peace, as we extend our arms and open our hearts to each and every one of you. May the one who announced peace by his Resurrection be your own peace.

4. The prisoners of the homeland cannot be left without a word from us. We express to them our sincere wish for a speedy end to their sufferings, the passage from darkness to light, the return to their beloved families and society. May they, once reunited with their fellow countrymen, breathe the air of peace to the full and enjoy the scent of domestic well-being. Praying in the words of our liturgical tradition “free all who are in chains and be unshakable support for all” (Tzelote Kidan), with all our people we assure you of our constant prayer of intercession to the Lord and we encourage you: be strong in hope!

We know the difficult living conditions of the brothers and sisters who live on both sides of the borders between our two countries and we think about them with affection. In view of these situations, let us constantly pray to the Lord, so that as soon as possible, and with criteria that generate peace and prosperity, we may arrive at the demarcation of the borders: this is the premise for the restoration of activities and mutual relations between the two peoples, of the normality of social life, of the historical relations between the two areas. At the same time, we recommend that, in this effort, non-constructive impulses and hostile partisanship be banned. Instead, let ourselves be guided by the supreme interest of the parties involved and by a broad and generous openness of mind and spirit. As religious leaders, we remain absolutely ready to offer our contribution where requested, considered useful or appropriate. “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body” (1 Cor 12:12), so too we, being one body with you, make our own your “joys and hopes, griefs and anxieties” (Vat. II, Gaudium et Spes, 1).

This combination of hopes, aspirations and prayers – which has crossed our souls in the moments of most acute suffering in the past years – has had unexpected and providential results. Our congratulations go to the government authorities of both countries for having, through the signing of the peace agreements, put an end to the hostilities that opposed them. It is our hope that this breath of peace and reconciliation with our neighbours will now spread within our own national community in its various components: it is time to turn our backs on the past and its burden of experiences, polluted by so many and varied contrasts, and to relaunch all the activities and initiatives aimed at restoring life and hope to our people. The right and freedom of action, production and movement are to be restored without delay to farmers, workers, traders and entrepreneurs.

5. “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh … He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near” (Eph 2:13-17). St. Paul speaks of the removal of a wall of separation: the symbolic reference is to the Jewish temple, where a wall separated Jews from Gentiles, men from women, priests from the laity. Evidently the problem of discrimination in its various forms is not limited to the ancient world: its growth and deepening in time and space is a great challenge that our world still has to face (cf. Philip Gibbs, The Cross of Peace). Bitterness, resentments, revenge, wars with all their consequences …: these are some of the manifestations through which it continues in our time.

Hence our tragedy: to have filled with separating walls a world that God had given us so that it might become our common home! Powerful figures in history have tried to reunify it by tearing down these walls. They did not succeed, or did not succeed in a lasting way, because their efforts were aimed at a single goal: to conquer and dominate it with an iron fist! Above all because it was necessary for the One whom Paul calls “our peace” to reach everything and everyone with his healing and renewing word. Today, as yesterday, there is no other way, no other winning choice for us, but to redirect our eyes and our steps towards him, the donor of that peace that the world cannot give us. He is in fact the only one who has the power to harmonize our differences and to give us the strength and grace to build a country founded on unity and harmony. That is why, we repeat, we have chosen, as the title and leitmotif of this message, the words of St. Paul: “Peace to those who are far off and peace to those who are near”. At the level of the nation, in fact, we too are, in every sense, partners in the tragedy of divisions and discrimination that afflicts international society today.

Our situation in the past and present

6. As we recalled in our pastoral letter of 2001, war paralyzes all development, destroys completely and delays the progress made in decades, causing incalculable social, psychological and moral damage (cf. God Loves this Country, in “Making God’s Way’s Straight”, Bologna 2008, pp.79-125). That these are not abstract theories, but tragic realities, unfortunately, it is something we have touched with our hands and the consequences of which we are still paying in our flesh, as confirmed by the backwardness in which our country has been trapped.

The thirty years of the war for independence had already left a huge heap of ruins, caused deep social crises, claimed very high numbers of human lives, forced countless families to leave the territory, exposing them to disintegration and marginalization in lands of exile. The human mass in a magmatic flight abroad, which began then and still continues today, has assumed such proportions as to project before our eyes sinister perspectives of an extinction of our people in this land. To the present day, the phenomenon remains far from receiving the degree of attention and the search for urgent solutions that its seriousness requires.

7. It is true that, after independence, there was a phase in which the population, having turned the page of the horrors of the armed struggle, felt animated by an uncontainable urge to wake up, to rebuild and to further development. The commitment and tenacity deployed and the results achieved in those early years earned acknowledgement also at international level. But here again, to crush everything in the beginning, the war for borders! The borders which, now we are told, were not the real cause! In any case, there followed a second and no less bloody season of devastation, death, and relentless population flows abroad. The foundations and the fabric of human relations, the set-up of our value systems, the structures of our society and much more were shaken. Perhaps one day history will tell us what mysterious factors were holding us back to the point of not being able to find the means and the strategies necessary to free ourselves from this desperate state of affairs!

The fact is that the failure to resolve the 1998-2000 war dispute in a timely way offered a reason for what was proclaimed as the “national defence emergency”. Consequently, this led to the almost total stagnation of all activities and any growth in the “nation building” programme. Thus, the peace agreements signed in Algiers in 2000 and the senseless state of non-peace and non-war were followed by a disastrous collapse of the political, economic and social situation in the country. The same fact of not making progress is already a regression in itself, and a people that does not make progress rapidly moves towards decline.

8. In the light of this complex interweaving of situations, one understands the state of psychological prostration and despair of our young people and their restless watching the horizon in search of a way to escape, whatever it may be, as long as it is there. It is also easy to imagine the anguish of those who care about the fate of these poor boys and girls, a fate that ultimately coincides with the present and future of this country. Having the problem reached the highest chronic degree, if we do not pay it the utmost attention and do not deal with the factors triggering this situation in time, it will be difficult to get out of it before a point of no return is reached.

Undeniably, over the years, many have achieved considerable economic, academic and social development goals abroad, but there are also many cases of humiliated and marginalized humanity and undignified citizenship. It is well known that there is no honour without a country; and does a people without a homeland exist? These are realities that we see materializing before our very eyes. Their consequences, in the short and long term, are not difficult to evaluate (cf. Ibid., n. 23). It is not hard to see the signs already in the deep sense of anxiety and widespread disorientation, both within the country and abroad, in young people, mothers, children and the family as a whole. To say that the family has been damaged is to say little; it would be more realistic to speak of a devastating disintegration of the family in progress. When such situations are prolonged in time, it is the survival of society, the existence of the nation, the unity of the people, which are pushed to the brink of extinction.

It is true that the past decades have seen the country go from the struggle for independence, to the referendum and the proclamation of national independence; in reality, for more than a century our people has not known moments of real peace to allow an orderly evolution towards a well-defined state and a dignified and stable way of life. Concomitantly there has been a continuous instability of social structures, acute socio-political-economic crises, and migration flows to foreign countries without interruption. If every person, every family and every group is injured, it is society as a whole that is injured. And the list could continue.

Faced with all these problems, we ask ourselves today anxiously: until when? How do we get out of this situation? How can we heal our wounds? The first step is the recognition of the existence of the problems and the determination to face them head-on. It is unrealistic to wait for their solution on the initiative of others, to hope for unlikely miraculous interventions or even to deny their existence. The need for a change of direction and renewal remains, in any case, undisputed, urgent and unavoidable!

What way out?

9. In his speech in Algiers on the occasion of the signing of the peace agreements at the end of the two years of war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, President Isayas Aferwerki said that, with that act, the aim was to “close the chapter of conflict and hatred, to leave the past behind, and to open a future of peace and hope for the two sister peoples” (Algiers, 13 December, 2000). This is the message we would like to receive: no people are condemned to live in a permanent state of hatred and bitterness! It is necessary to get out of the bottlenecks of a past from which we have nothing to gain and look towards a brighter future, to which all seekers of peace and good aspire. More importantly, the question is: what steps should be taken? How do we get out of the vicious circles in which we have been trapped for a long time? Peace and reconciliation! This is the first and highest point from which to start! Without going through this path, it is simply impossible, unthinkable, to achieve the goals we all yearn for.

In 1994, when South Africa moved from apartheid to a new historical phase, Nelson Mandela said: “The time has come to heal the wounds. It is time to build the bridge over the channel separating us. The time to build hangs over us.”  Anyone who has the slightest ability to evaluate things and the intellect to understand them realizes that the moment of inner healing and reconciliation has come for us too; a reconciliation not only in our relations with our neighbouring country, but also within our own national community, both on the national territory and in countries of diaspora dispersion. We just need to collect the appeal and move on to the facts. It is a serious responsibility that weighs on everyone, starting with our political leaders and, gradually, transversally, up to the younger generations.

10. So what can we do to put an end to the confusion of negative feelings, from the poison of hatred and the wounds of resentment? Forget tout-court? Even if you wanted to, would it be possible? Only a path that is intimately rooted in the supreme values of truth and reconciliation can enable us to find our way to the much sought way out, to heal the wounds of memory and to “replace” negative feelings with the highest values of our humanity and our religious beliefs. It is imperative that the “truth and reconciliation” programme involve the whole nation, the authorities at the highest level and the population in general. In this regard, already in our pastoral letter of 2001, we wrote: “our society needs to coordinate a comprehensive program of reconciliation and forgiveness” (God Loves this Country, cit., no. 17). Moreover, from our own human and Christian formation we have learned that “blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Mt 5.7). All this awaits the maximum commitment of the state authorities, the elders and wise men of the nation and religious leaders. It is also essential that the peace processes should not be subject to sudden and fluctuating changes in decisions – as unfortunately we have also seen recently – but should be accompanied by firmness, clarity and farsightedness. We strongly recommend this.

11. We reconcile not only with an enemy (God Loves this Country, l.c.), but also with ourselves. Our people, as a whole, need to regenerate morally through reconciliation, mutual forgiveness and unity. Let us make every effort to extend the programme of peace and unity to those who have different ideas and visions. In order that the motto “one people, one heart” may not remain just an elegant slogan, but be translated into concrete programs and effective courses of action, it is necessary to abandon the discourse of “us and them” and create the preconditions for the reunification of all members of society. Never forget the word of the Gospel: “Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house” (Lk 11:17; Mt 12:25), words which, moreover, human wisdom itself confirms.

A famous African, Kwame Nkrumah, addressing his fellow Africans and exhorting them to unity as a source of strength, affirmed that “a united Africa would become the figure of a great and beneficial force in the world.” Our people, who live within the country, like those scattered throughout the world, if animated by the desire for unity and harmony, will be able to eradicate poverty and ignorance, to overcome what is opposed to the good and progress of the country, to lay the foundations of a constitutional state system, to ensure the peaceful exercise of national law at its borders and ports and to create the conditions for a complete and permanent peaceful existence.

If we now compare ourselves with these ideals, we will not find it hard to see how far we are from them! We must therefore ensure the existence, the welfare, the growth and the progress of our people and our country through decisive processes of peace and reconciliation. This is the message we would like to send with great conviction: if we do not want to perish as a nation and as a people, let us build this peace and reconciliation among us! Whether we want it or not, the judgment of history hangs over us: either we learn to live in unity and harmony and in a serene fraternal coexistence, or we will go to swell the ranks of the foolish and, as we have already said, we will perish as a people and as a nation!

12. So far, we have considered and weighed up the various aspects of our situation, also comparing it, by way of example, with that of some other countries. If we really want a better future for our country, we must all be prepared to work in maximum synergy to initiate the processes we have proposed, based on the pillars of truth, justice and respect for the rights and freedom of all.

The search for a way out of the present crisis and the start of the path towards a bright future require the participation of all the parties concerned, in which no one is favoured at the expense of others and there is no distinction between privileged and non-privileged, between those who win and those who lose. We need an inclusive platform, where everyone shares the responsibilities of the past and the present and, united by mutual forgiveness and reconciled, set out together towards common goals. Such a project is not only an option, but an imperative, in which what counts is the accomplishment of God’s will and the supreme good of the Eritrean people.

Since God’s plan for this nation and for this people whom he loves is this “plan of peace and reconciliation”, oh people of Eritrea, seek and pursue God’s plans in unity of purpose and harmony of spirits! It is time to wake up from sleep. Rise then! Close the past with magnanimity and look to the future, identify your path and walk towards peace! This should have been the landing place, already since long time, for the many problems and challenges that have shaped your history in the century not long past!

The urgency of the peace and reconciliation process

13. It comes from our current situation: as a society, we have problems that have been prolonged and rooted in time and have implacably worn us out. It is only natural that, as individuals, as families, as people and as a nation, we be looking for their source; in doing so, there will be the attribution of responsibility to specific individuals, but this should never lead to the perpetuation of bitterness, resentments and desires for revenge. If peace and order are to reign in the country and in society, the process of reconciliation must begin without delay. The first and decisive step in this direction is mercy, which consists of granting and receiving forgiveness. There is a rich tradition in all of this in our society.

How did our fathers, guardians of our best traditions, resolve conflictual situations? Did they do so by destroying anyone they suspected or feared? Or by forcing him to leave his own country? Or by mercilessly punishing the guilty, striking them, ostracizing them or forcing them into exile? Or inducing them to hate their country and their loved ones? Or forgetting that mercy is the best medicine; that it heals both those who are forgiven and those who forgive, and that reconciliation is a victory for all? They did all the opposite! When, in the assemblies of the elders, only one person emerged with ideas and points of view different from the common feeling, they were sent wise people, who induced him to tune in with his brothers, reconciling the offended and the offender, and in all of this they applied the medicine of mercy, never surpassed in time. The energy and moral strength that flowed from it was such as to give the community the strength of unity ; this in turn made up for the fragility of its members.  Sealing the past with reconciliation so as to look to the future together is therefore not a new experience for us: why then couldn’t it be used today for the resolution of our national problems? Whatever the intensity and the stage of progression of conflicts and tensions, there is no question that the point of arrival must always be that of reconciliation and peace.

14. A glance at history, or a tour of the horizon around the contexts where we live, is always necessary. In this sense, the experiences of countries such as South Africa have a particularly exemplary value. Even if our situation is quite different, the fact remains that we also live in very serious circumstances. In the African country just mentioned, unspeakable violence and disproportionate forms of oppression have been inflicted by small elites in power against a very large population.

What makes the experience of that country interesting is the fact that, after the turning point, no vindictive explosions by the latter have occurred, not at least to the degree and extent that one might have feared. Instead, the path of transition to a democratic political order through a national process of truth and reconciliation was chosen. So the people took a new path, turning their backs on the heritage of enmity, resentment and violence that had long marked their history, and established a socio-political order whose balance is largely positive. But, as has already been said, this experience is neither an invention , nor an exclusive practise of that country. They are common historical legacies, even though not all have taken advantage of them to the same extent.

Nation building

15. One appeal we wish to make to all the children of this nation, to the authorities and to their subjects, to the supporters and opponents of the government together, is to follow the path of truth and reconciliation! We are waiting for our people to be offered not abstract theoretical processes, but active commitments from all peace seekers, without prejudice to any fighter for justice, as long as that is what they really are. If we want a united and democratic Eritrea for all, a common home where we work for the good and growth of all, there is no other way than that of reconciliation, which, among other things, implies that words that wound more than stones are banned and destructive rivalries leave room for a healthy and constructive emulation.

Pursuing routes of peace and reconciliation such as those we propose here is not for fearful or weak people. Instead, it presupposes courage, determination and, often, heroism. It means to win victory not over others, but over oneself. It means walking the path of inner healing and wisdom (cf. John Paul II, Address given in Onitsha, Nigeria, 22.03.1998). He who walks on the path of righteousness, who is firm in his principles and has a right sense of himself, who possesses a healthy and balanced self-esteem, is not afraid of such a commitment. If reconciliation with external forces has not frightened us, so much less should reconciliation with ourselves and within our communities cause us fear. And it is precisely this that will give us new vigour and new energy. In fact, it takes more heroism to conquer peace than to win a war.

16. In the reconstruction of the nation, starting by redeeming oneself from mistakes, from mutual suspicions and from the entanglement of negative experiences of the past, means building the present and the future on sound and solid foundations. Accepting the truth of what happened, admitting one’s faults and mistakes, means giving a solid foundation to peace. To choose the contrary means instead to build a nation weak in its unity, insecure in its identity, and therefore condemned to sink ruinously under the storm of events. An example of this is the history of the countries of Eastern Europe, such as the former Yugoslavia, just to mention one.

If we want the process of building the nation, which began in 1991, to be successful, the commitment must first of all be inclusive: that is, all the members of the nation must be involved, without distinction or exclusion of any kind, in a mutual relationship healed by peace and reconciliation. The wounds of the past must be healed. A fact that is evident in our recent history is a certain tendency to alienate the brother, an inclination to get stuck in ill-fated jealousies, in isolation, in the rejection of the ideas of others, etc. These are experiences of a past that must be eliminated and replaced with new chapters of a cleaner, healthier, more beautiful story. If a mother’s breast generates and her heart embraces and grows with equal care and affection all her children, even in the differences of their temperaments, why shouldn’t it be like that of that other great mother who is the nation? The diversity of traditions, cultures, languages, temperaments, gifts, talents of citizens are a blessing for the entire national community. It is such a homeland that all Eritreans dream of for themselves and for their children: a mother, like a large tree under whose shadow all recognize each other as brothers and sisters and all live together in peace and harmony. This is the urgent need of the moment. We all have to gird our loins to make this sign a reality.

17. We Catholic Bishops, on the basis of the Gospel doctrine and the teachings of the Church, joyfully support every initiative for peace that is born of the good will of all. In the meantime, we deplore any effort to build a nation that excludes anyone, that is not open to all, and that is not genuinely pluralistic.

We cannot forget the refugees, sons and daughters of this country, with their tears and their hopes. Their suffering is also ours. God gave us this country so that it might become our common home. We cannot rebuild and administrate it, and we cannot accept to see it administrated, without a consonance of spirits and intentions. God calls us all to be the pillars of this common house, and we cannot indulge in feelings, ours or of others, tending to ignore or neglect this call. There are, in fact, well-founded reasons to fear that petty private interests or, worse still, selfish tendencies, themselves patterns of pervasive forms of corruption, may prevail. These and other similar temptations will never be sufficiently watched over.

It is an irony of history that the citizens  find themselves in the need to seek quality of life and dignity not in the land that God has given them as a homeland, but around the world. It is not a  credit for a nation that its people are forced to travel constantly to neighbouring countries to meet their children scattered in different parts of the world as refugees, or to carry out essential tasks. It is necessary to reverse these tendencies with resolutions which, in order to be of historical and decisive importance, may at the moment appear “too expensive”; but, in the long term they will benefit everyone and history will judge them wise and far-sighted.

18. Now let us turn our thoughts to our young people: have they received from their fathers, or at least from those who precede them by age or other titles, the examples, stimuli and inspirations that they have the right to expect? What image do they receive from our way of being and acting? Can they grasp in our behaviour a genuine interest in the supreme good of the people and of the nation, and not the search for limited and narrow personal or biased advantages? Have we succeeded in instilling in them a spirit of dedication and perseverance in their commitments?

There is still much more to be said about the new generations. For now it is enough to recognize that, as generations of “adults”, we have debts to settle with our young people, these poor boys and girls with whom fate has been so meagre and cruel. In general, we must also reconcile ourselves with them, understand and perceive their living conditions, make them sense our vigilant presence at their side, make their interests prevail over ours, in the clear understanding that the future of the nation is inseparably linked to their future. This is the direction we should be heading towards! We must certainly admit that we have missed out on so many opportunities with regard to our responsibilities towards our young people. We must only hope that the processes of peace and reconciliation that we are proposing can redeem our relations at these levels too. Only in this way it will be possible to create the conditions so that those who live in lands of exile can begin to caress the hope of a return to the land of their fathers, and those who have remained in the country until now will have no reason to leave it.

19. The urgent request we wish to make, at this point, to our people at home and abroad and to all people of good will, is not to want to respond to evil with evil; the right path is to come out, with the grace of God, with the encouragement of the people, and with the contribution of wise and mature fellow countrymen, from the bottlenecks of fear, suspicion, doubt, anguish, superficiality, selfishness, and to turn towards the light of the future (cf. Where is your Brother, cit., n. 23). Saint John Paul II wrote that “At its deepest level, evil is a tragic rejection of the demands of love. Moral good, on the other hand, is born of love, shows itself as love and is directed towards love” (“Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good” (Rom 12:21), Message for the World Day of Peace, 1 January 2005, no. 2).

We must have the lucid awareness that our mutual blame and guilt must be definitively consigned to the past: with it not only have we lost ourselves, not only have we not gained any advantage, but we have wounded ourselves and have hurt each other. Now we have to say “enough!”, and start working to reverse the direction of travel, without waiting for others to do it for us. Let us purify our hearts, heal their wounds, undergo the regenerative therapy of conversion! If mercy and forgiveness do not prevail at these levels of depth of the human heart, there can be no peace process; and if this does not happen, the consequences are predictable: the reopening of old wounds, the spreading of the ” disease ” to subsequent generations, the beginning of a new poisonous chain of actions and destructive reactions. The result will be that the temporary semblance of peace will become only a short passage towards new tensions and conflicts. In order that this may not become an instrument for the benefit of a privileged few  and “exploiters of circumstances”, it is necessary to place the axe at the root of the tree of evil that is in the heart of each of us. Offering forgiveness and obtaining it: this is the most decisive element in any peace process, the instruments of which are “encounter” and “dialogue”.

20. The sincere search for truth and justice on the part of all who enter into dialogue is the inescapable premise for reaching a point of common consent. This in turn requires an open and receptive spirit, and detests closures in impervious and gloomy preconditions. Respect for the identity and good will of others, consideration for the principle of equal co-responsibility and dignity between the parties: these are decisive components of dialogue, which, in the final analysis, is the search for the common good (cf. John Paul II, “Dialogue for Peace, a Challenge for our Time”. Message for the World Day of Peace, January 1, 1983, n. 6-7).

“Dialogue is blocked by an a priori decision to concede nothing, by a refusal to listen, by a claim to be – oneself and only oneself – the measure of justice. This attitude can conceal quite simply the blind and deaf selfishness of a people.” (l. cit.).

Reconciliation

21. The concept of reconciliation can be understood in various ways: as an agreement or understanding after a clash or conflict, the end of a non-peaceful confrontation between two parties, the attainment of peace through mutual forgiveness, etc.

Reconciliation in the Christian sense embraces and transcends these meanings, since it is based on the pacification between God and the world through the saving work of Jesus Christ. Hence, it is a supreme gift of the Most Holy Trinity. After sending his Only Begotten Son among men to shed his own blood to make it possible, the Father sends his Holy Spirit to pour it out and keep it in our hearts until, at the second coming of Christ, it enters its final and eternal phase.

22. Even if in the First Testament we do not find the “technical-conceptual” term for reconciliation as such, we do have stories about it, such as those of Jacob and Esau (cf. Gen. 33), and of Joseph and his brothers (cf. Gen. 45). The most recurrent term in the First Testament is instead that of “expiation: atonement“. It takes place within an annual celebration or rite in which the people obtain precisely the expiation of their sins, the reconciliation with God (cf. Lev 16) and the renewal of the covenant with him.

The New Testament contains other similar stories of reconciliation, such as that of the lost and found sheep or that of the prodigal son. It is above all in the writings of St. Paul that we find the term reconciliation, where the reference is to the work accomplished by Jesus Christ by reconciling the world with God (cf. Rom 5:11; Col 1:19-20) and the Jews with the Gentiles (cf. Eph 2:12-16). The work accomplished by Christ finds its continuity in time, in the mission entrusted to the Church (2 Cor 5:11, 21). For this reason, we too, as ministers of the Church, turn to you, renewing the call of Saint Paul: “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20). Peace and reconciliation are not achieved by automatic means: they require prayer, determination and tireless effort. In times like these, when the “culture of suspicion and hatred” dominates, it is imperative that the parties involved move towards one another with an open heart, with mutual trust and love.

23. A summary of some of the essential points of the Christian understanding of reconciliation could be as follows:
24. It is above all a gift from God. It is he who makes it present and operative in us.
25. More often the process begins not precisely with the perpetrator of the evil, but with those who have been its victims.
26. When reconciliation is accomplished, it follows that it is both sides that become “new creatures” (cf. 2 Cor 5:17).
27. The perpetrator must arrive at the moment of truth, admission of guilt, repentance and reparation in different ways and in different manners. Zacchaeus’ example is paradigmatic for all: “If I have stolen from someone, I give back four times as much” (Lk 19:8).
28. The one who transforms the perpetrators of evil and their victims into new creatures is always Jesus Christ crucified and risen.
29. The Christian understanding of reconciliation reveals to us the very purpose of the world and God’s truth about it:
30. Even if reconciliation always remains, first of all, a gift from God, the Christian is called to participate in the divine work, which will then triumph over everything and everyone;
31. Peace finds all its strength in the Cross of Christ, “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Cor 1:23). It is in fact through the Cross that God has conquered the world.

Mercy 

24. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life” (Eph 2:4-5). Mercy requires above all a personal decision and, as a first step, opposes the instinctive impulse to respond to evil with evil. Its foundation is God’s love – “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34) – which in turn builds on human reality and experience. People are gifted with a conscience that enables them to perceive the evil they are doing. Starting from this, they are called to render to those who have offended them the forgiveness and mercy they would like for themselves: “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you” (Mt 7,12). It is this attitude that enables all parties to look to the future together.

Mercy, before it is expressed in commitment and project, must dwell in the heart. It is when it springs from there that it becomes ethics, action, and culture, and takes concrete form in legislation and in social and political practice, where justice takes root and governs.

25. When we talk about forgiveness, we often tend to think of something we give to others. Actually, by forgiving we only discover a part of ourselves that has remained hidden from our awareness, but still needs to be forgiven: “To really forgive, I must discover that I am more like those who have hurt me… I am able to forgive when I discover that I am not in a position to forgive [in the sense that I too have offended, I have done evil]”. (J. Patton, Is human forgiveness possible?, Nashville, 1985). Therefore, true forgiveness puts the offended and the offender on the same level of dignity, rather than humiliating and subordinating those who are forgiven to the forgiver; true forgiveness rehabilitates and restores dignity to those who receive it and makes it acceptable to the forgiver (cf. Id., The capacity to forgive, in Journal of Religion and Health, 27/4 (1988). The attribution of justice to oneself and of injustice to others cannot lead to truth, but only to other injustices.

Christian forgiveness springs from God’s boundless love, which is granted to man in the same unlimited measure, and creates in him a new heart and existence. Not accepting to be taken up into this stream of life and grace that flows from God means to remain stuck in our “old being”, in the vicious circle of our resentments, in the deadly desire for evil for others: the loss of hope, the choice to remain stuck in hatred, the renunciation of any prospect of leaving it, despair … are the consequences.

All this happens, or can happen, not only on a personal level, but also at the level of families, groups, countries and states. World society itself, if it wants to recover the values that can make it more human and more “liveable”, if it wants to restore order and tranquillity in social relations, if it wants to regain a new vision of the world for itself and for future generations, cannot do so without a return to the regenerative force of forgiveness, mercy and reconciliation. The future of our society is intimately linked to this return or conversion. Coming back to us, any option to the contrary will put at risk the survival and destiny of our own nation.

Justice and…

26. “Justice goes hand in hand with peace and is permanently and actively linked to peace. Justice and peace seek the good of one and all, and for this reason they demand order and truth. When one is threatened, both falter; when justice is offended, peace is also placed in jeopardy” (John Paul II, “From the Justice of each comes Peace for all”). Message for the World Day of Peace, January 1, 1998, no. 1). Justice is, therefore, the first step in all processes of peace and reconciliation. It consists in establishing, according to the dictates of the right conscience infused by God in men and women, a right relationship between the creator and man/woman, between human beings, between them and creation. “Justice is, at one and the same time, a moral virtue and a legal concept…It leads to reconciliation, not to revenge. Upon examination, its deepest level is rooted in love, which finds its most significant expression in mercy. Therefore justice, if separated from merciful love, becomes cold and cutting” (l. cit.).

… Truth

27. An indispensable precondition for reconciliation and peace, and for the triumph of justice, is truth. Most cases of injustice, hatred, discrimination and conflict arise from lies in their many manifestations.

When everything that is transmitted as good for society is rooted in lies or, alternatively, the lie itself is presented under the appearances of truth in order to achieve its own (dishonest) goals, it may for some time encounter some measure of success, but it will be an ephemeral success. It is not possible to hide the truth forever. The policy of “lying, repeated a thousand times, becomes the truth” or of “false propaganda equivalent to half power” is one of the worst enemies of truth and of people’s rights. Those who in a Machiavellian fashion  use such devices show that they have lost any notion of good and evil, of justice and injustice. The search for peace itself can never resort to dishonest and deceptive means, because the end can never justify the means. When the notion of truth is obscured and distorted concepts of justice are established in political leadership and public authorities at all levels, the very survival of society begins to tremble threateningly, like a building founded on quicksand.

Whatever the potential or real influence of evil workers, and of those who consciously choose to live and move in such an environment, truth fears nothing and no one: it gathers men beyond their differences of ideas and positions, it always seeks what unites and never what divides, it takes away the spaces of mutual distrust and opens the way to a peaceful human coexistence, in which justice and harmony will reign: “Truth, (is) the power of peace! Let us join together to strengthen peace through the resources of peace itself. The foremost resource is truth, for it is pre-eminently truth that is the serene and powerful driving force of peace, radiating unimpededly by its own power” (John Paul II, “Truth, the power of peace”). Message for the World Day of Peace, January 1, 1980, Introduction).

28. It goes without saying that no one can claim to have a monopoly of the truth. On the other hand, there is an abyss of difference between those who, day by day, set out on the road to truth and those who manifestly reject it and, with a flattened conscience, live supine under the shadow of lies.

For all these reasons, any effort at peace and reconciliation must ultimately be transformed into a process of “truth and justice”. Consequently:

1. Everything that has happened in the past – especially in terms of violence, oppression, abuse and death, inflicted on men and women of all ages, cultures and backgrounds – must be fully exposed to the light of the truth. It is not that with this we can call to life those who are no longer with us, but it is a fundamental right of those who have survived the victims to know the truth of the facts.
2. The search for the truth of the facts has, among other things, the purpose of helping us to build a new society, founded precisely on truth and justice, and to prevent the repetition of crimes that have destroyed so many lives and so many hopes and have been costing tears, mourning and despair. It is high time that lies and falsehoods, covering up serious and very serious responsibilities, were replaced by transparency and true knowledge of the facts.
3. Honesty, righteousness, humility are the main road to truth. Their false substitutes – pride, arrogance, bullying and boasting – can only lead to other evils. “You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Mic 6:8). This is the road to follow so that truth may triumph.

29. “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (Jn 8:32). “Human society…demands that men be guided by justice… that they be animated by… love… Nor is this enough; for human society thrives on freedom…” (John XXIII, Encyclical Pacem in Terris, (n. 18-It. / n. 35 En.) – Social Life in Truth, Justice, Charity and Freedom -. The Eritrean people should be given justice and the right to know the truth about their country’s problems, their current situation, and the political choices that concern them in the present and future. On all this, and much more, the people are owed accurate, timely, honest, objective and just information. “A start can be made on the basis of this truth, which is certainly more liberating than propaganda, especially when that propaganda serves to conceal inadmissible intentions” (John Paul II, “Pacem in terris. A permanent commitment”. Message for World Day of Peace 2003, n. 7).

Peace

30. Peace is not just the absence of conflict and tension. Even if there will be no peace without the end of these, the true meaning of the concept embraces order, inner and outer harmony, fullness of life and the triumph of justice.

However, what is most important to us in this circumstance, as always, is to rekindle the awareness that peace is above all a gift from God. As we have said about forgiveness and reconciliation, peace comes to us through Jesus Christ: “because God wanted all fullness to be found in him and through him to reconcile all things to him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, by making peace through his death on the cross”^[1] (Col 1:19-20). Our liturgy sings of him: “He made peace with his Cross and manifested his resurrection” (Canticle of Holy Saturday). It is a peace which, flowing from God himself, leads to rescue, redemption and elevation of the victims, and arouses a humble and sober evaluation of oneself and of one’s own situation, with the full willingness to accept the gift itself.

In the perspective of those who work for peace, commitment may well require gradual and progressive steps; but, as we have repeatedly stressed, at no time and under no circumstances, it may allow the cover up, the falsification or the mystification of the truth. No peace is possible without truth, just as no peace is conceivable without justice. So too: peace is God’s gift, yes, but in the meantime also the fruit of the collaboration and sharing of all.

31. Not to respond to evil with evil, but to win evil with good, i.e., to forgive and love the evildoer, means to remove from his hands the weapon of aggression and wrap him in the embrace of brotherhood. In the final analysis, it amounts to transforming the battlefield into a platform for dialogue and cooperation for the supreme good of all.

It seems to us that the time has come, for us Eritreans in our homeland and in the diaspora, to make the dream for peace come true and act upon the desire to set off together with the effort and the beneficial struggle for its conquest. This commitment may seem difficult, utopian, but if undertaken with God’s help, it has the strength to generate hope and to give a new energy to our journey. “Peace is possible, but that it is also something that has to be continually won, a good thing that has to be attained through ever renewed efforts. Each generation feels in a new way the permanent need for peace in the face of the daily problems of life” (John Paul II, “To serve peace, respect freedom”. Message for the World Day of Peace, January 1, 1981, Introduction). More concretely: “We do not live in an irrational or meaningless world. On the contrary, there is a moral logic which is built into human life and which makes possible dialogue between individuals and peoples… The universal moral law written on the human heart is precisely that kind of “grammar” which is needed if the world is to engage in this discussion of its future” (John Paul II, Message to the General Assembly of the United Nations for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of its foundation, 1995, no. 3). Within this horizon, it should be borne in mind that peace cannot be lasting if it is limited to agreements made at the level of states and governments. Even worse if, in the name of peace or under its pretext, the search for private interests is insinuated: as a result, the way would be opened to the worst and most subtle forms of violation of human rights and thus the very foundations of peace would be put at risk.

Rights and freedom

32. In 1961, in the heavy climate of closures and divisions of the Cold War, while uncertainty was prevailing about the future of the world and it was difficult to see the light of hope on the horizon, Pope John XXIII, referring to the song of the Angels at the birth of Jesus, launched his prophetic encyclical “Pacem in Terris”. That message and the subsequent teachings of the Church reaffirmed that peace is built on four pillars: truth, justice, love and freedom.

When each individual person is caring and concerned not only with his or her own rights, but also with his or her duties towards others, it is then that truth builds peace. When every person respects the rights of others, it is then that justice nourishes peace. When everyone takes on the needs, sufferings and problems of others, it is then that charity gives peace a solid foundation. If, in the search for peace and freedom, people allow themselves to be guided by the righteous dictates of their conscience and assume full and clear responsibility for their own choices and actions, then freedom will have made its contribution to the building of peace.

33. While there is no question that every state/government has an obligation to respect and ensure respect for the religious freedom of every person, the same obligation also applies to individuals and religious groups. Religious denominations and their leaders have the right to preserve their religion, but they are bound to do so in such a way as not to affect the freedom and dignity of other religions and not to endanger the peaceful coexistence of all. The free exercise of religious worship goes hand in hand with respect for those who do not share the same faith and are not part of the same group, so as not to undermine the golden rule: “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you” (Mt 7:12; Lk 6:31). Otherwise, the peace of all is at stake (cf. John Paul II, “Religious freedom, a condition for peaceful coexistence”). Message for the World Day of Peace, 1 January 1988).

Within the same religious denominations and religious programs of action, limitations or violations of religious freedom may occur; this also constitutes a serious danger to peace. Respecting the freedom and rights of others means ensuring peace for oneself, because those who are deprived of their rights will find themselves in the need to pursue them with means that can never give peace.

Freedom is the measure of the maturity and of the progress of a person and of a nation. Like peace, freedom must also be cultivated to the point of bringing the person to the fullness of his humanity. Our peace must not be the result of a strategy of mutual fear or opportunistic balance. Peace cannot be violated on the false pretext of protecting it. When we start with a genuine interest in peace, the latter will benefit everyone, for it will be based on the dignity and freedom of the human being (cf. Ibid.). The strength of a people and of a country springs from the triumph of unity, harmony, reconciliation and truth.

For a real plan of peace

34. It goes without saying that a plan for peace and reconciliation requires a sustained and forward-looking campaign, which could include, among other things, the following steps:

1. A comprehensive proclamation and planning of peace and reconciliation.
2. The establishment of a national commission entrusted with the campaign for “truth and reconciliation”, which should work with clear and precise aims and working methods. Its main task will be the removal of factors of tension and the promotion of dialogue and rapprochement between the parties.
3. The purpose of the above will be to help achieve a generalized peace through paths of reconciliation and forgiveness, consigning the past to history and opening the way to a new future of hope.
4. It is of fundamental importance that during these phases and beyond, in the mass media and in educational institutions at all levels, languages and expressions of hatred, violence and revenge be banned, and that the “grammar and vocabulary” of peace, forgiveness and reconciliation may prevail.
5. Above all other considerations, as we have already said repeatedly, since peace and reconciliation are a gift from God, we must implore it prostrate before Him. As in Nineveh the king and the people returned to the Lord in prayer with a repentant heart, we too must turn to Him with the same spirit of sincere repentance.

“True peace therefore is the fruit of justice… But because human justice is always fragile and imperfect, subject as it is to the limitations and egoism of individuals and groups, it must include and, as it were, be completed by the forgiveness which heals and rebuilds troubled human relations from their foundations.” (John Paul II, “No peace without justice, no justice without forgiveness”). Message for the World Day of Peace, January 1, 2002, n. 3).

Conclusion

35. Our final appeal to all the Eritreans, men and women, is, first of all, to place all their trust and hope in the Lord. At a time like the present, when the country is going through very serious trials, we need more than ever an intervention from God. He, who already in the past has manifested in various ways how much he loves this nation and this people, if invoked with deep faith and humility, will not fail to turn his merciful gaze towards us, provided that our imploring and our faith are enduring. He is the giver of all peace and he is the one who heals and saves his people, because it is he who wants everyone to “have life and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10). Let us encourage our people so that, in the midst of the misfortunes of the present time, they may set out on the path of justice, peace and a new order of things. A spirit of discernment is needed to recognize what God has reserved for this country and its people, and prayer and unceasing effort, as well, to adapt ourselves to what God wants to reveal to us. Only in this way, and not otherwise, will we see the dream of a united, reconciled Eritrea, founded on peace and justice come true. May the men and women of our time, and especially this region and this country of ours, finally, in such stormy times, taste the gift of true and lasting peace.

In this way we too can repeat with the psalmist: “I will sing of faithful love and judgement; to you, Yahweh, will I make music” (Ps 101:1). “Faithful Love and Loyalty join together, Saving Justice and Peace embrace. Loyalty will spring up from the earth, and Justice will lean down from heaven. Yahweh  will himself give prosperity, and our soil will yield its harvest. Justice will walk before him, treading out a path”.^[2] (Ps. 85:11-13).

May the Lord bless our country and keep it,

turn his face towards us and give us his peace,

let the light of his resurrection shine upon us.

Abune Menghisteab Tesfamariam, M.C.C.J., Metropolitan Archbishop of Asmara.

Abune Thomas Osman, OFMCap., Eparca of Barentù.

Abune Kidane Yebio, Eparca of Keren.

Abune Fikremariam, Eparca of Segheneyti.

Asmara, Holy Easter, 2019

[1] New Jerusalem Bible on line.

*All the biblical quotations are from the New American Bible on line, except those quoted differently