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."

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For two years, 15- and 16-year-olds have been taken from towns and villages. According to the sources, some are ending up on the front lines in the war in Ethiopia's northern state of Tigray.

"A few weeks ago (Eritrea) resumed confiscating schools run and owned by the Catholic Church. (As if) this was not enough; now there are roundups of young boys and girls aged 16 … for compulsory military service without end," Father Mussie Zerai, a Catholic priest of Eritrean origin who works with migrants, told Catholic News Service on 7 September.

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The Eritrean Catholic Church sent a letter to the ministry of health condemning the closure of its health centers in the East African nation, the BBC reports, as crackdowns against Christianity and other minority religions continue.

The Catholic Church, which operates as many as 22 health centers in Eritrea, accused the government of ordering patients to go home and deploying soldiers to monitor the facilities.

Additionally, the Catholic News Service has reported that government officials asked administrators at church facilities to sign documents approving the handover of properties before the closures. Many of the Catholic health facilities in Eritrea are located on the properties of monasteries. Continue reading

A 2014 Human Rights Watch report described the African nation as one of the most closed countries in the world, where human rights conditions are "dismal".

Indefinite military service, torture, arbitrary detention and severe restrictions on freedoms of expression, association and religion provoke thousands of Eritreans to flee the nation each month.

Last year, hundreds of Eritrean migrants drowned off the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa.

This was the island visited by Pope Francis last year in his first trip outside Rome as pontiff.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 305,000 Eritreans have fled in the last decade.

The bishops described Eritrea as "desolate" because so many people had fled or were in the prison or army.

In their 38-page letter, the bishops said Eritreans were going to "peaceful countries, to countries of justice, of work, where one expresses himself loudly, a country where one works and earns".

But there was no-one left to look after the elderly in Eritrea, they said.

The bishops pointedly said that "all those who are arrested should first be handled humanely and sympathetically" and then be presented to court for trial.

The letter was signed by Bishops Mengsteab Tesfamariam of Asmara, Tomas Osman of Barentu, Kidane Yeabio of Keren and Feqremariam Hagos of Segeneiti.

They were careful not to directly condemn the Eritrean government.

Eritrea has no constitution, functioning legislature, independent judiciary, elections, independent press or non-governmental organisations.

All power in concentrated in the hands of President Isaias Afewerki who has ruled since 1991.

Catholicism is one of four permitted or government-controlled religions in Eritrea.

The others are Sunni Islam, Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Lutheranism.

Since 2002, the Eritrean government has jailed and physically assaulted people who practice any other religion.

The Orthodox patriarch in the country was deposed by the government in 2002 and remains under house arrest.

Sources

• BBC
• Human Rights Watch
• HRW World Report 2014-06-10
• Image: World Bulletin

The reasons include the rise of violent religious extremism and the actions and inactions of governments, according to Dr Katrina Lantos Swett of the US Commission for International Religious Freedom.

"Extremists target religious minorities and dissenters from majority religious communities for violence, including physical assaults and even murder," she said.

"Authoritarian governments also repress religious freedom through intricate webs of discriminatory rules, arbitrary requirements and draconian edicts."

In its latest report, the commission lists 15 countries of particular concern: Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.

All of these nations, it says, severely restrict independent religious activity and harass individuals and groups for religious activity or beliefs.

Examples include sectarian violence against minority Christians and Muslims in Burma, repression of non-state religious groups in China, and Iran's imprisonment of Christians on account of their faith.

In both Pakistan and Nigeria, the report says, religious extremism and impunity have factored into unprecedented levels of violence that threaten the long-term viability of both nations.

A second tier of countries is named, where there are also serious and troubling violations of religious liberty. These countries are Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos and Russia.

The report also highlights the status of religious liberty in other countries that do not fall into either of the two tiers. These nations and regions include: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Ethiopia, Turkey, Venezuela and the entirety of Western Europe.

Some signs of hope were seen. The report noted that Turkey is "moving in a positive direction with regard to religious freedom".

Sources:

Catholic News Agency

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom

Image: Religious Freedom Coalition

The communist government of the north-east African state, which does not set a fixed period for military service, has kept Church workers and seminarians in the army for more than 15 years in some cases.

The charity Aid to the Church in Need said a local source told it the government "exaggerates the danger of war, as a pretext to keep people in military service".

"In general, military service has led to a situation where there is a shortage of qualified workers in many professions — not just in the Church," the source added.

While conscription has radically reduced the number of pastoral workers in the Church, its charitable activities have also suffered from state interference because the Church has been forbidden to carry out charitable work.

Seminarians were technically exempt from military service between 2008 and 2011 — but reports received by Aid to the Church in Need suggest many of those conscripted in 2008 were still in training camps.

The government has encouraged all Eritreans to own weapons, even priests and housewives. National service is required for all male and female citizens beginning at age 16.

Over 2000 Christians are among those who have refused military service and are imprisoned for their beliefs.

Thousands avoid military service by fleeing the country each year. Eritrea's national soccer team recently defected while on a visit to Uganda, in part because of the compulsory military service, Radio France Internationale reported.

Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a 30-year conflict.

Of the 5.2 million people in the country, nearly half the population are Christian. Most of these are Orthodox, with Catholics making up just 4 per cent of the population.

Sources:

Catholic News Agency

Zenit

Image: Catholic News Agency