(OSV News) — Catholic bishops in Ethiopia are joining Pope Leo XIV’s appeal for peace as renewed fighting in Tigray and neighboring regions raises fears of another humanitarian catastrophe.
In an Oct. 1 statement, the bishops lamented the war’s human toll, saying it is deepening divisions, destroying communities and multiplying suffering.
“The greatest suffering falls upon the most vulnerable,” the bishops said, pointing to children, women, the elderly and the sick.
Ethiopian bishops said it is their “heartfelt prayer that all disputes may be settled through genuine dialogue and that all forms of conflict may cease.”
Pope Leo pleads for peace
The appeal followed Pope Leo’s Sept. 30 plea for negotiations.
“I extend my heartfelt plea to all parties to choose the path of dialogue,” the pope said during his Wednesday general audience. “Armed conflict never solves problems but only worsens them, leaving in its wake a trail of death, destruction, and resentment. Only honest engagement can lay the foundations for lasting peace.”
Ethiopian Church leaders affirmed that a peace rooted in truth, justice, forgiveness and reconciliation can bring healing to the nation and “serve the welfare of all our peoples.”
“Such a peace reflects the values of the Gospel, advances the common good, upholds the sacred dignity of the human person, and corresponds to the will of God for His people,” said the bishops, urging all parties in the conflict to open their hearts to forgiveness and reconciliation.
Full-scale war begins
The Ethiopian national army and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front launched a full-scale war on Sept. 23, after exchanging drone attacks weeks earlier in August. The new war has drawn in more armed groups, with Tigrayan forces joining another six armed groups to form the Ethiopian Peoples’ Forces Coalition for Survival. The alliance’s stated agenda is to remove Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government.
The development drew immediate concerns across the world amid appeals for civilians’ safety and fear of another humanitarian crisis.
In the northeastern African country, the Eastern Catholic Church is a minority accounting for roughly 0.9% of the population, or 930,000 people. But with support from the universal Church, it delivers critical educational, health and social services — including humanitarian aid in the country of over 139 million people. Nearly 50 million in Ethiopia are Orthodox Christians.
Fear of broader war
According to analysts, a full-scale war in Ethiopia may drag other regional actors — including Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia — into broader war.
Father Mussie Zerai Yosief, a priest of Asmara, Eritrea, and a human rights activist, said the war in Ethiopia was “another fratricidal conflict that will lead to nothing but disaster and the loss of thousands of human lives.”
“One could analyze the causes and counter-causes at length, but war is not the solution to any of the problems on the ground,” he told OSV News. “We must cry out to the world about the urgent need for peace and stop this war before it escalates into a regional conflict.”
“Many regional actors are already directly or indirectly involved; this is dangerous given the already precarious situation in the Horn of Africa,” the priest added.
No safe place to go
Father Zerai said war inevitably created refugees fleeing the violence, yet every escape route for these populations has been fraught with suffering and brutality.
“For months, we have been denouncing the inhumane treatment of thousands of Eritreans and Ethiopians in Libyan prisons — conditions that have resulted in dozens of injuries and deaths. This war will only exacerbate the situation,” Father Zerai added.
The priest called on the African Union to intervene urgently to extinguish “raging fire before it consumes the entire region.”
“I call upon all religious leaders to make their voices heard and join the Holy Father’s appeal, urging those in power to silence the weapons and create the conditions for peace,” Father Zerai urged.
Humanitarian aid attacked
On Sept. 20, an aerial drone strike on a humanitarian convoy in north Tigray destroyed food aid belonging to the Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat.
The heavy commercial truck contracted by the Adigrat Diocesan Catholic Secretariat as part of the Joint Emergency Operation Program — was moving about 45,200 tons of food aid destined for an internally displaced camp in north Tigray where over 56,000 people live on humanitarian relief.
The Catholic Relief Services — the official overseas humanitarian and development agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — supported the relief consignment.
“This food allocation was urgently destined for the … IDP camp in Sheraro town, where 56,273 vulnerable displaced persons almost entirely rely on these scarce humanitarian provisions for their daily survival,” Bishop Tesfasellassie Medhin of the Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat said in a statement on Sept. 20.
“The total destruction or loss of this single shipment deprives thousands of innocent families, women, children, and the elderly of vital sustenance in a time of extreme distress,” the bishop underlined.
Bishop says life must be respected
The prelate called for the protection of scarce humanitarian commodities and lifesaving assets, unhindered humanitarian access for relief agencies, and de-escalation and preservation of human life.
“The sanctity of human life and human dignity must remain the non-negotiable priority above all conflict and tensions,” Bishop Medhin said.
The new war has arrived in the region as it was moving towards full recovery from an earlier war — fought between 2020 and 2022 — that left an estimated 300,000 to 600,000 people dead and millions of others displaced. Many people died from starvation and lack of medical services, with others killed in combat.
Fredrick Nzwili writes for OSV News from Nairobi, Kenya.
