Eritrean authorities detain Catholic bishop, but won’t say why - CathNews New Zealand

Eritrean authorities detain Catholic bishop, but won’t say why

Thursday, October 20th, 2022

Eritrean authorities continue to detain Catholic Bishop Fikremariam Hagos Tsalim of Segheneity, who was arrested at the Asmara International Airport ob 15 October.

After the Catholic Church queried about the situation and his whereabouts, government authorities confirmed the bishop, who turns 52 on October 23, is in their custody. Bishop Tsalim was picked up soon after returning from a trip to Europe, but as of October 18, government authorities had not given any reasons for his detention.

Fides, news agency of the Pontifical Mission Societies, said Bishop Tsalim and two other priests were being held at Adi Abeto prison.

“We have received this ominous news (of the arrest) with immense pain and bewilderment at what is happening in our country,” Father Mussie Zerai, a Catholic priest of Eritrean origin who works with migrants, told Catholic News Service. “Our hope is that all priests and the bishop currently in custody will be released as soon as possible.”

Related Posts:

Additional reading

News category: News Shorts, World.

Tags: Bishop Fikremariam Hagos Tsalim, Eritrea, Eritrean bishop arrested

Analysis and Comment
- Let there be streams of Mass
  
  Every Sunday, whoever is welcoming the gathered at my parish also welcomes those “joining us online,” before inviting us to stand for the processional hymn. Sometimes, I imagine that these folks are actually in the choir loft, where the camera Read more
- Catholic church delivers some overdue fresh air to a gloomy city
  
  It’s been a bruising April for many of Christchurch’s iconic landmarks, venues and events, teetering under the weight of their own financial turmoil. The Arts Centre’s management team continues to sound the threatening drumbeat of insolvency if the ratepayer doesn’t Read more
- Richard Dawkins’ “cultural Christianity,” political theologies, and the Church of Pope Francis
  
  Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and ethologist and one of the most famous atheists in the world, announced just a few weeks ago that he is a cultural Christian: “I do think we are culturally a Christian country. I call Read more
- In ‘Infinite Dignity,’ the Vatican defends people, not politics
  
  Many people, and not only Catholics, are talking about the new Vatican document, “Dignitas Infinita,” or Infinite Dignity. It tackles complicated moral ideas, many of them further complicated by current political debates. But many commentaries misunderstand what the Vatican presented, Read more

Search CathNews

Search for:
CathNews
is free

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:
Great Reads