This was not my first time in Eritrea. In the past, for reasons related to my office as provincial treasurer, I had visited the land of Saint Justin de Jacobis. Now, however, ten years later, I had new motivations and raised expectations.

Last year, on July 8, 2018, Ethiopia and Eritrea had signed a historic declaration of peace, after the war of independence that began in 1998 and had been suspended in 2000, but never finally completed. This signing led to the opening of the borders between the two nations, to free exchange of goods and of people. Although the declaration had promised a definitive delineation of borders (and much more) these had not yet come about.
In short, everything seemed to have put an end to the climate of war and tight controls that I had always found in my previous travels.

I strongly desired to be able to know the new face of this land that we Vincentians of southern Italy had so much loved.  Saint Justin de Jacobis, father of faith in Abyssinia had been a Vincentian missionary of the former Neapolitan Province.

As soon as I arrived in Asmara, unfortunately, I could easily see that little (if anything) had changed in ten years. And the little that had changed was certainly not for the better. Going around towns and villages confirmed this perception all the more, until reaching its highest point at Massawa, a city with a strong tourist and seaside character, which today seems more a ghost town, marred by historic war wounds and deep signs of abandon at its beautiful monuments and palaces.

On the other hand, I was strongly edified by the great testimony of faith and joy that I encountered in the faces and hearts of confreres and sisters of the Eritrean Vincentian Family.

Wherever I went, whether to missions of the Daughters of Charity or the Vincentian Missionaries, I always saw joy-filled communities, confreres and sisters who had dedicated themselves totally to the service of the poor and to evangelization. In Eritrea today, there is no Vincentian house without direct contact with the poor. And the communities most recently founded are the ones most out in the margins, both in a geographical and spiritual sense, where the word poverty aptly describes life both for priests and sisters as well as for the people.

Certainly, the main strength of our Vincentian community is the spirit of prayer and fraternal communion lived out with enthusiasm and fervor by missionaries and sisters. And the strong presence of young people in vocational discernment in our houses confirms not only the charism but also that the witness of faith is alive and fascinating.

Of course, this nation’s great economic, social and political difficulties do indeed affect the dreams and plans of young Eritreans (and not a little).  Even among the priests and sisters.

The temptation to escape is strong – to leave this land that could offer so much more, but that today forces you to live through so many difficulties and be so dependent on international aid – this cannot be hidden.  In Eritrea, to evangelize means, above all, to fight for human and social promotion. Here, more than elsewhere, the word faith rhymes with charity.

I conclude my writing with two symbolic images that I brought back with me.

The sanctuary of Hebo containing the relics of Saint Justin dominates the whole valley.  To those who come here and for those who leave, that structure seems like the living, beating heart of the Catholic faith, radiating hope over all its territory and for those who live here.

 

 

The village of Maela, the last human settlement before arriving at the mountains and the desert. Its church, dedicated to St. George, immediately brings to mind the Gospel and Vincentian phrase, “go forth to all the world and proclaim the Good News to every creature” (Mk 16:15).

 

 

by Giuseppe Carulli CM

Translation: Dan Paul Borlik, CM

Western Province, USA