Court dismisses challenge to Asia Bibi blasphemy acquittal

Asmara, Eritrea, Sep 17, 2019 / 01:45 pm (CNA).- Seven religious schools in Eritrea, four of them sponsored by the Catholic Church, have been seized by the country’s government this month. Catholic bishops in the country say the move was motivated by “hatred against the faith.”

“If this is not hatred against the faith and against religion what else can it be?” Eritrea’s bishops asked in a Sept. 4 letter addressed to the Minister of Public Education, Semere Re’esom.

The seven schools seized by the government include three run Protestant and Muslim groups, according to Comboni Catholic missionaries serving in the area. The schools have been nationalized, and will reportedly now be run by the country’s education ministry.

The Eritrean government has also seized Church-run health facilities.

“The actions that are being taken against our educational and health institutions are contrary to the rights and to the legitimate freedom of the Church,” the bishops wrote in their Sept. 4 letter.

The bishops also suggested that the government raise to them any objections to the way in which Catholic schools and hospitals are administered in Eritrea.

“If there are situations that need to be corrected or adjusted, not only is it good, but even the only viable way, in order for this to take place in a context of an open and constructive dialogue,” the bishops wrote.

Eritrea is a one-party state whose human rights record has frequently been deplored.

It is believed the seizures are retaliatory, after the Church in April called for reforms to reduce emigration.

The bishops had also called for national reconciliation.
Government seizure of Church property is not new, however.

A 1995 decree restricting social and welfare projects to the state has been used intermittently since then to seize or close ecclesial services.

In July 2018, an Eritrean Catholic priest helping immigrants and refugees in Italy told EWTN that authorities had recently shut down eight free Catholic-run medical clinics. He said authorities claimed the clinics were unnecessary because of the presence of state clinics.

Christian and Muslim schools have also been closed under the 1995 decree, according to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom’s 2019 annual report.

Eritrea has been designated a Country of Particular Concern since 2004 for its religious freedom abuses by the US Department of State.

Many Eritreans, especially youth, emigrate, due to a military conscription, and a lack of opportunities, freedom, education, and health care.

A July 2018 peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea, which ended a conflict over their mutual border, led to an open border which has allowed for easier emigration.

Catholics make up 4 percent of Eritrea’s population.

ACI Africa contributed to this report.

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Baghdad, Iraq, Mar 5, 2021 / 08:30 am (CNA).- Here is the full text of Pope Francis’ address to bishops, priests, religious, consecrated persons, seminarians, and catechists, delivered March 5, 2021, at the Syriac Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady o… […]

Mosul, Iraq, Jan 24, 2018 / 12:59 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A newborn baby was sentenced to death after Iraqi tribal leaders discovered it had been conceived in rape committed by an ISIS terrorist.  With the help of some Catholic sisters, the child’s mother was able to make a plan for the baby to be adopted.

The young woman’s story was recently shared by Aid to the Church in Need, a pontifical foundation supporting Catholic ministries in the Middle East.

ACN reported that the young woman, whose name was not released, had been kidnapped and raped by jihadists. During the ISIS occupation of northern Iraq, Christian and minority women were routinely kidnapped by ISIS, and often were treated as sex slaves for militants.

When tribal elders learned a teenager had become pregnant while in ISIS captivity, “they made the decision to kill the baby as soon as it was born.”  

“They could not live a baby conceived by ISIS. For them it was practically the devil,” ACN stated.

ACN reported that the woman was put in contact with a group of religious sisters, and that she gave birth to the child with their help. The mother asked that the child be placed in an orphanage run by the sisters. A month later it, was adopted by a Christian family.

The pontifical foundation stated that the child’s adoptive family “will surely educate their new son in love and forgiveness.  This is contribution of Christians in Iraq and the entire Middle East today. Evil never has the last word.”

The mother is under protective care to avoid any risk of retributive violence.

ACN reported that an anonymous witness told the group that saving the mother and child “could only have happened thanks to the presence of the Church” and that it is “an example of life and why our presence and culture of life are so important here.”

This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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