Editor: This piece by Fessehaye Mebrahtu was originally published in April 19, 2004.  We are re-publishing to provide a contrast between the wonderful story Fessehaye writes and the headlines in the government websites which are showing an intolerant document which is allegedly signed by religious leaders in Eritrea.

The legal and moral authority has broader appeal and responsibility that is the welfare of the communities and an assurance of common good. Such appeal can be expressed by a group of elders, who in their lived wisdom intervene in righting the wrong in a given community; the recent example is the jailing of the Eritrean elders who tried to play their traditional role in reconciling the chasm that was widening within the Eritrean government leadership in 2001. Individuals endowed with the charisma of wisdom also exercise similar roles. The former two types of elders have the moral responsibility to play the role but will not be criticized for failing to act or intervene. On the other hand, religious leaders who can be categorized as the third group, are expected to exercise their leadership role by counseling, reconciling and by being moral role models. In the Eritrean tradition, religious leaders have no denominational or religious boundaries in addressing the common good, including reconciling two parties regardless of their faith tradition. The above stated roles are in addition to their sacred duties such as leading the assembly of their faithful in prayers and teaching according to their respective religious traditions.

The traditional role of the elders and religious leaders in Eritrean is diminishing with the change of times � the primary cause is the Westernization of the traditional cultures introduced through Euro-American style of education. Colonialism in Africa also drew new boundaries creating new national and religious identities which brought diverse ethnic groups haphazardly brought together. In post-Colonialism Africa, the emergence of a nation state and the creation of political infrastructures contrary to the local traditions have undermined the traditional role of moral authority. This new identity can be categorized in two types: Political move to forge a national unity by emphasizing the common identity and destiny, on the other hand indigenous political leaders exploit the differences within a nation state using the same tools of divide and rule the European colonizers.

After the nation states were created in Africa the number of moral authorities who can transcend beyond ethnic and national boundaries became rare. Personalities who try to appeal beyond the narrow political agendas of a ruling junta or party in favor of the common good were not appreciated. To minimize the influence of such moral authorities, especially if they are religious leaders the power holders indict them as religious fanatics or ethno-centered individuals. Such indictments may be covert or overt according to the political climate and the attitude of the national society. One of the familiar statements to minimize the role of the moral leadership are expressed: � �መራሕቲ ሃይማኖት ኣብ ፖሊቲካዊ ነገራት ዘእቱ ይቢሎምን - ውራይ ሃይማኖቶምን መንፈሳዊ ጕዳዮምን ጥራይ ዘይገብሩ ናይ ፖሊቲካ እንታይ ኣፍሊጡዎም - religious leaders have no business in political matters � they should rather focus on their religious duties and spiritual matters.� Political authorities by publicly defining the role of moral authorities curb their traditional role in the wider community, diminishing their social status and the expectations upon them.

Consequently, moral authorities who should decry injustice and human right abuses look the other way or wash their hands saying, �ፖሊቲካ ረሳሕ�ዩ - ፖሊቲካዊ ጕዳይ ንፖሊቲካዊያን ይግደፉ - Politics are dirty �leave political matters to politicians. Secular matters and politics are for the government, etc.�  Such abdication of moral responsibility in defending the vulnerable and the oppressed goes contrary to the religious traditions of Christianity and Islam. In such situation, even the wellbeing of the abuser needs to be sought after lest they loose their soul for eternity in pursuit of the temporary be it power or wealth. Therefore, there is no way that religious leaders should abdicate their prophetic roles of consoling the weak and admonishing the powerful.

In current Eritrean situation, the moral authority, namely the religious leadership must decry injustice, the main cause of misery of our people. We are aware that through various works of charities and spiritual works of mercy, religious organizations are trying to cure the symptom by circumnavigating the cause. So far the cause is not addressed the symptoms will not go away by bandages. The religious leaders should have called out foul when the elders who tried to mediate were arrested and jailed in 2001. It is true the same year that the Eritrean Catholic bishops had issued a pastoral statement, �እግዚኣብሔር ነዛ ሃገር እዚኣ የፍቅራ እዩ � God loves this nation,� which received a wide public acceptance but was criticized by the Government of Eritrea. The letter of Abune Menghesteab Tesfamariam, Catholic Bishop of Asmara written on the occasion of announcing the names of our �Fallen Heroes� was also attacked indirectly for simply indicating reconciliation and mutual forgiveness. This is the moral duty of any spiritual leader, no matter which faith traditions he represents.   

I am sure many of us remember that in 1970�s Eritrean moral authorities (elders and religious leaders) used their traditional role in their attempt to reconcile the two factions of the liberation movement (ELF and EPLF). However, their role was deliberately undermined by both parties. Some individual elders of the reconciling committee were accused and abused for simply playing their traditional role not only by Ethiopia, by their own children (liberation movements leaders) as well. I leave harsh judgment to history.

During the long reign of Emperor Haileselassie and terror of Dergue, in Ethiopia and in Eritrea there were individual moral authorities that played prophetic role in their capacities. (Prophetic role in this context means to transcend partisan, religious, ethnic or even power affiliation and be a fair critique for the abuses in a given society, political, economic, or religious systems. Such critiques also offer a vision for the common good of a better tomorrow where justice and peace become the norm.) Whether one agrees with their political conviction or methods, in my personal opinion Abune Filippos Mengistu (Tewahdo-Orthodox) and Abune Abraha Fran�ois (Ge�ez Rite Catholic) were two Eritrean moral luminaries of their time. The former advocated for positive change within the Ethiopian empire and the latter decried the atrocities that were committed by Ethiopia to squelch the Eritrean liberation and equally was harsh to the liberation movement methods of extra-judicial killings that were taking place in cities and villages of Eritrea.

Both were religious figures who exercised their moral leadership in clear conscience amidst the murky and dangerous waters of Ethiopian politics. Abune Filippos Mengistu, was the Archbishop of Jerusalem (an Ethiopian Archbishop in the Holy Land). His exposure to various cultures, civilizations and religious traditions helped him to be a visionary. He advocated for equality and educational reform in Ethiopia which upset the feudal oligarchy.

Initially, Abune Filippos was indicted by Church leadership for writing a book allegedly that did not reflect the theological traditions of the Tewahdo-Orthodox Church. The book was entitled �እግዚኣብሔር ከእኛ ጋራ - Egziabher kegna gara � God among us � 1957 Ge�z Calendar c.1965 G.C.� which criticized Christians for the scandal of division contrary to the wish of Jesus Christ. In the introduction of his book referring to the �Council of Chalcedon 450 C.E.� the first major schism in Christianity; where the Alexandrian (mother of the Coptic and Ethiopic Rites) and Syrian Churches from the rest of Christendom was what seemingly upset the church leadership in Addis Ababa. I have included for my readers part of the paragraph in Amharic hoping that many of our readers know it:

የክርስቶስ ቤተ-ክርስቲያን በእምነት በጥምቀት ምስጢር በክርስቶስ ትምህርት ሳትለያይ በኣምስተኛው መቶ ዘመን የተነሡት የቤተ-ክርስቲያን ኣባቶች በእልክና በባህላ ተለያይተው፡ ኣሓቲ ቤተ-ክርስቲያን ለምሥራቅና ለምዕራብ ከፋፈሉዋትና ክርስቲያን የተባለ ሁሉም በወገን በሴራ ተከፍሎ ክርስቶስ ራሱ ያስተማረው የኣምላክነቱ የሰውነቱ የሥጋዌ ባሕርይ ምስጢር በሓዲስ ኪዳን በጌታችን ተገልጾ ሲነበብ የሚመለከተው ኣጥቶ በሴራ የተከፈለችው ቤተ-ክርስቲያን በየክፍልዋ እገሌ እገሌን እንደዚህ ኣለው፤ እገሌም እንደዚህ ተናገረ እያለች የሰዎችን ድምፅ ተከትላ ቤተ-ክርስቲያን ኣዘክሮ በቀልንና ዘለፋን ስታነብ ዓሥራ ኣምስት መቶ ዘመን መሆኑ ነው። ስለዚህ ይህ ኣሳዛኝ የሆነ የኣምባ ጓሮና የድብድብ ጉባኤ ከተፈጠረ ጀምሮ በክርስቶስ ወንድማማች የሆነው ክርስቲያን ሰው ሁሉ በመንበር በኣገር በባህል ፉክክር ተለያይቶ ከክርስቶስ እምነት ውጭ ለሆኑት ወገኖች መዘባበቻ እስኪሆን ድረስ እንደ ኣንድ ደመኛ እየተለያየ እርስ በእርሱ የሚገናኝበት የፍቅር መንፈስ ተለይቶት ሲኖር እነሆ ዛሬ በቤተክርስቲያን ኣባቶች ቃል የልደት ዕለት ከጌታ የተነገረው የሰላምና የመልካም ፈቃድ ደወል በቤተ-ክርስቲያን ጉልላት ላይ ተጋብኦ ሲደወል በመሰማቱ ሁሉም ተደስቶ የመንፈስ ቅዱስ ድምፅ ያድርገው እያለ የክርስቲያን ወገን በሙሉ ወደ እግዚኣብሔር ጸሎቱ ይገልጻል።

Apparently his crime was for the above statement. However, the real reason of his persecution was for his advocacy of social and educational reformation � well recorded in his correspondence with Emperor Haileselassie try to explain his vision for Ethiopia which was published in manuscript format as the �Egziabher kegna Gara Vol. II in 1958 Ge�ez Calendar (1966 G.C.). I will include in Amharic some paragraphs from his two volumes:

�10. ሰው ከመጀመሪያው የሰው ፍጥረት ከኣዳም ጀምሮ ዓለም እስኪያልፍ ድረስ የሚወለደው ሁሉም ኣንድ ነው፣ ልዩነት የለውም። ለኣዳም የተሰጠው የጸጋ ዕውቀት ለመጨረሻው የሰው ፍጥረትም ይሰጠዋል ኣይከፈልበትም። ሰው ሲባል በተፈጥሮ ኣንድ ነው እንጂ፡ ኣንዱ ሰው ከሌላው የሚበልጥበት ምክንያት የለውም።

11. ሰው ከሰ የሚበልጠው በትምህርትና በሃብት ብቻ ነው። �

13. እንደዚሁ ደግሞ ኃይለኛ ብርቱ የሆነ ሰው ደካማና ሰነፍ የሆነውን ሰ ብኃይሉ ኣቸንፎ በጕልበቱ ሊገዛው ይችላል፤ ልዩነቱ ይህ ብቻ ነው። ከዚህ ምክንያት በቀር ሰው በተፈጥሮ ኣንዱ ለሌላው የበታችና ተገዥ፡ ባሪያና ኣገልጋይ ሆኖ እንዲኖር የተፈጠረ የለም። ፈጣሪ ጌታ ኣድላዊ ኣይደላምና በፍጥረቱ በኣዳም ዘር ላይ ልዩነት ኣላደረገም። �

23. ስለዚህ እኛ ኢትዮጵያውያን በሓያኛው መቶ ክፍለ ዘመን እያለን ገና የቀኑ ሰዓት በፀሓይ ጥላ በሰው ጫማ ስፍር ሲሰፈር ሳለ የሌሊቱም ሰዓት በከዋክብት ቍጥር ይታወቅ በነበረው ዘመን ያለን እንዳይመስለን፡ ኣሁን ኢትዮጵያ የምትገኘው በርዋን ከፍታ ካደባባይ ወጥታ ከግልጽ ሜዳ ከዓለም መካከል ነውና።

25. ኢትዮጵያዊ ሰው ሆይ፡ ሰው ሲባል በተፈጥሮው ሁሉም እኩል ነው፤ በፈጣሪው ዕድል ሰው ጥቍርም ቢሆን ወይም ቀይ ነጭም ቢሆን ቢጫ በተፈጥሮው ሰው ከሰው ኣይበልጥም፤ እግዚኣብሔር የሰውን ፊት ኣይቶ ኣያደላም።

26� ኣንድ ነገድ ወይም ኣንድ ትውልድ ለሌላው ትውልዳና ነገድ ታዛዥ ወይም ተዋራጅ ሆኖ እንዲኖር ኣልታዘዘም፡ እስኪ እናስተውል ለነጻ ሕዝብ የሃይማኖትና የቅድስና ነጻነትና መብትም ሊኖረው ይገባል።�

The statements of Abune Filippos Mengistu were very bold and prophetic which also reflected the spirit of the time � Civil Right Movements in USA and Liberation Movements from Colonial rules in Africa. Such statements must have unnerved the feudal lords, who practically controlled the rest of the Ethiopian ethnic groups as sub-human expropriating their land and their livelihoods. However, it was more convenient to accuse the author in religious matters lest his social critique reach the Ethiopian Masses who was longing for social change, equality and land reform. The Archbishop was put under house arrest until the Dergue came to power.

The following paragraph was taken from an introduction to his second volume:

ሚያዝያ 26 ቀን 1969 ዓ.ም.ፈ.

�እባርኮ ለእግዚኣብሔር ዘኣለበወኒ� (መዝ. 15፡7) ኦርቶዶክስ ሊቀ-ጳጳስ ኣባ ፊልጶስ መልእክት የክርስቶስ ኣዳኝነት ለተቀበለ፡ ለክርስቲያን ሰው ሁሉ፤ 

ክርስቲያን ሰው ሆይ፣ 

የዓለም  መድኃኒት ጌታችን ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ሓዋርያትን ለስብከት ወንጌል በላካቸው ጊዜ ከሰዎች ተጠበቁ፡ ወደ ነገሥታት ትወሰዳላችሁ፡ ኣሳልፈውም ሲሰኡዋችሁ፣ የምትናገሩት በዚያች ሰዓት  ይሰጣችኋልና እንዴት እንደምትናገሩ ኣትጨነቁ፣ በናንተ የሚናገር የኣባታችሁ መንፈስ ነው እንጂ የምትናገሩት እናንተ ኣይደላችሁምና።

እንግዲህ ኣትፍሩዋቸው፡ የማይገለጥ የተከደነ የማይታወቅ የተሠወረ የለምና፡ በጨለማ ይምነግራችሁ በብርሃን ተናገሩ፡ በጀሮ የምትሰሙት በሰገነት ስበኩ፡ ሥጋን የሚገድሉትን ነፍስን ግን መግደል የማይቻላቸውን ኣትፍሩ። (ማቴ. 10፡28) ብሎ ባዘዛቸው ትእዛዝ መሪነት ይህን የመንፈሳዊ ኣገልግሎት ሥልጣን ከተቀበልኩ 1911 ዓ.ም. ጀምሮ እሰካ ኣሁንም በማናቸውም ኣጋጣሚ በመንፈሳዊ ኣገልግሎት ላይ ቆሜ በሕዝብና በነገሥት በመኳንንትም ፊት ቢሆን፤ የእግዚኣብሔር መንፈስ ያሳሰበኝን ከመናገር ችላ ያልኩበት ጊዜ ኣልነበረም።

ስለዚህ ስለኣብያተ ክርስቲያንት ኅብረትና ስለ የሰው ፍጥረት እኵልነት ያለኝ ስሜት በመግለጽ - እግዚኣብሔር ከእኛ ጋራ ሁለተኛ መጽሓፍ - በሚል መነሻ የጻፍኩዋቸውን ቃላትና የደረሰብኝንም ፈተና በዝርዝር ጽፌዋለሁ። መጻፉም ያለፉትን ሰዎች ለመውቀስ ሳይሆን ተከታዩ እንዲመከርበትም ነው። መሓሪ ይቅር ባይ እግዚኣብሔር ያለፉትን ይቅር ይበላቸው፤ ተከታዮችንም ይህን የመሰል ሥውር ኃጢኣት ከመሥራት ያድናቸው ቅዱስ ይቅርታውን እለምናለሁ። 

የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክሳዊት ቤተ-ክርስቲያን ኣባል
ኦርቶዶክስ ሊቀ-ጳጳስ ዘኢየሩሳሌም
ኣባ ፊልጶስ  

I am sure that many of my readers will dismiss or miss the point here by focusing on a personality who happened to be Eritrean by birth in all reality an Ethiopianist. True! The point however, is that he exercised his moral authority in challenging the unjust feudal system which no body else before had dared to criticize. His Eritrean upbringing in an egalitarian society gave him the foundational value to see that all people are equal. His religious and biblical formation also gave him the courage and the mechanism to convey his message without fearing the consequence. In his time there were Ethiopians religious and community leaders with the same level or even more education and social status but none of them challenged the unjust system from a very close range. Though he knew first hand the gifts who wrote up to 16 books for the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia and patriotism of Abune Filippos, (who was a prisoner during Italian Fascist occupation; Emperor Haileselassie could not digest his gentle criticism of Ethiopia�s feudal system. The religious institution also felt threatened by his critical view of the divisions that exist within Christianity. Therefore, Abune Filippos Mengistu suffered for playing his prophetic role as a real moral authority. Since Abune Filippos� plea for reformation was not heeded to, the change was brought by revolution at immense, human and financial cost which continues to under-develop Ethiopia.

The second person was Abune Abraha Fran�ois whom I admired. I am sure many people who knew or heard of him will agree with me. Since he was not fond of writing, what I will share what I heard from friends or from personal memories.  The statements may not be not verbatim though are accurate recollection of his sayings. Abune Abraha was the Catholic Bishop of Asmara which covered the whole of Eritrea from 1960�s to early 1980�s. His moral leadership can be divided into two: Simplicity of life style, and poignant sermons (homilies). Unlike Abune Filippos, Abune Abraha did not leave us his memoirs except what was imprinted in our memories.

Abune Abraha became Bishop of Asmara in the midst of new political realities that began unraveling due to Ethiopia�s annexation of Eritrea in 1960�s. Ethiopian anger was unleashed on civilians to subdue the armed struggle for Eritrea�s liberation and one of the first victims was the whole village of Ona, just on the outskirts of Keren. Abune Abraha on the occasion of the annual feast of St. Michael the Catholic Parish of Keren made clear to the Ethiopian army and the people in political power that killing innocent civilians was unacceptable and immoral. Did the Ethiopia government change its policy or behavior hearing to these prophetic challenges? No. On the other, such moral voice gave hope to the victims that their sufferings have been noticed.

In our tradition sacred place was always respected but during that period Ethiopian soldiers desecrated churches and mosques, and in many occasions gathered civilians in mosques massacred them. The Eritrean liberation movements were not free of that either. In mid 1970�s when Dr. Gebretensae Hagos was killed at Medhane-Alem Catholic Church of Gejeret, Abune Abraha said, �ቀደም በቦታትና ተደፊሩ ዘይፈልጥ ኣኅዋት ነኅዋት ምስ ተጨኻኸኑ ደም ብምፍሳስ ሎምዘበን ታቦት ተደፊሩ (ተራኺሱ) - Never before was a sanctuary desecrated but when brothers in cruelty turned against each other by shedding blood this year.� Again did this affect the conscience our liberation movements or did they reflect on their policy of killings of suspected individuals collaborating with the enemy, in many instants with the other faction of the liberation movement or with Ethiopia. No. As a matter fact, more innocent people were killed the following years and fratricide continued in a massive scale which we still do not deny that was �ኵናት ሓድሕድ - civil war� in 1980�s.� Again, the words of Abune Abraha are still with us piquing our conscience. The challenge is whether we have the courage and the wisdom of avoiding our past follies, including the fratricides hovering over us like dark ominous cloud.

Abune Abraha�s show of compassion or criticism transcended parochialism. For example, when Emperor Haileselassie died Abune Abraha had a memorial service for him. Hearing this, Dergue administration in Asmara summoned him and asked him that he was not suppose to do so. Abune Abraha�s response was, �ንስኻትኵም ገዛእቲ ሕያዋን ድኣምበር መኣስ ገዛእቲ ሙታን ኮይንኩም - you are leaders of the living not of the dead.� Such wit astounded interrogator and let him go without further question. On anther occasion he held a memorial service for all victims of war Ethiopians and Eritreans by naming each of the fourteen provinces which included Eritrea. His famous phrase at his homily was, �ከትዝክሩና ዚግብኦም ደቅና ነተዝክሮም ኣሎና - in stead of our children holding a memorial service for us their parents, we are holding memorial services for our children.� He decried their untimely death in the war fighting. His criticism to Dergue�s Red Terror of 1977-1978 was, �ኦ መራሕቲ ኢትዮጵያ ኣይትጋገዩ ሕዝብኹም ኣይተሸብሩ፡ ሽቡር ሕዝቢ ቍምነገር ኣይኸውንን�ዩ፡ ኣቦታትኩም ዓዲ ዘጽንሑልኩም ብጅግንነት እምበር ብሽብር ኣይኮነን - O leaders of Ethiopia do not terrorize your own people, a terrorized nation is useless; your ancestors have kept your nation through heroism not through terrorism.� When Mengistu gathered to his presence all Eritrean religious leaders to support his �ቀይ ኮከብ ዘመቻ - Red Star Campaign� Abune Abraha�s ultimate moral resolute was tested; when he was asked to express his support to the campaign Abune Abraha in stead of saying �ኢትዮጵያ ትቅደም -Ethiopia Tiqdem, እናሸንፋለን Enashenfalen or ተገንጣይ-ወንበዴዎች ይወድማሉ - Separatists will be destroyed like many of other religious leaders;� he said, �እግዚኣብሔር ንመራሕትና ኣይተጋግየልና - Keep our leaders from making wrong decisions.� Obviously, he was the only religious leaders not shown on Ethiopia�s national TV while other religious leaders were cited for their enthusiastic support of the Campaign. I am sure most of the religious leaders who were summoned in the presence of Mengistu did not support the infamous campaign but they were afraid to express their displeasure unlike Abune Abraha.

In conclusion, the purpose of highlighting these two moral leaders was to demonstrate the responsibility entrusted and the risk that comes with to our moral leadership. I chose religious leaders; excuse me for showing partiality because these two are my personal heroes. I also wanted to challenge our current moral authorities, especially the religious leaders (Christians and Muslims) to speak up for justice and rule of law in Eritrea. Moral leaders armed with conviction target the human conscience. Their messages are primarily a change of heart and mind in order to address systemic changes in any given society. The instruments of evil will see them as soft targets and use whatever power in their hand to intimidate, silence and/or eliminate them. The following are historical moral leaders who died for what they believed and now transcend space and time: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Archbishop Oscar Romero (El Salvador), Mahatma Gandhi (India), Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Nazi Germany), etc. I hope our moral leaders will not risk their lives to some extent. However, we should remember the elders who paid the ultimate sacrifice for playing their traditional role of mediation and reconciliation are our moral leaders and I salute their heroism. May their sacrifice bring peace and reconciliation to Eritrea.