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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ASMARA 001058 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON FOR AFRICA WATCHERS, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2016 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KIRF ER
SUBJECT: GSE TIGHTENS CONTROL ON OFFICIAL RELIGIOUS 
INSTITUTIONS 
 
REF: ASMARA 275 
 
Classified By: AMB. Scott H. DeLisi for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Since the middle of November, the Government 
of the State of Eritrea (GSE) has sought to increase its 
level of control over the four official religious 
institutions in Eritrea.  The GSE has directed all four 
institutions ) the Catholic Church, the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Church and the Islamic 
institution ) to submit the names of all religious 
leaders/priests in order to enroll them into national and 
military service.  To date, all but the Catholic Church have 
complied with the request.  The Catholic Church has said they 
intend to formally refuse the GSE's directive but have 
offered to work with the GSE to find a compromise solution. 
The GSE also has ordered the Eritrean Orthodox Church to turn 
over its weekly offering and tithes to the government.  While 
the GSE has a history of intrusion into the operations of 
religious institutions, these new directives mark a new low 
of government infringement on the freedom of religious 
practice in-country.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------- 
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH SAYS NO 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) Over the past two years, the GSE has accused the 
Catholic Church of hiding young men in the seminaries, 
congregations and priesthood as a means to keep them out of 
national and military service.  The Bishop of Asmara, Abune 
Menghesteab Tesfamarion, repeatedly has denied these 
allegations.  As he explained to Poloff, harboring 
individuals in church institutions who do not have a true 
calling to serve God harms the integrity of the Church and is 
a poor use of already scarce resources. 
 
¶3. (C) In a December 18 meeting with the Ambassador, the head 
of the Catholic Secretariat, Father Abba Uqbagaber 
Woldeghiorghis(protect), said the Catholic Church had 
received a letter in late November from the GSE Office of 
Religious Affairs.  The letter requested the names of all 
seminarians, priests and other young men serving the Church 
for the purposes of fulfilling their national and military 
service obligations.  He added that the three other official 
religious institutions had received similar requests and 
subsequently complied.  In a letter response sent the first 
week of December and signed by Bishop Meghesteab, the 
Catholic Church stated they would provide the names of the 
seminarians (approximately 200 young men), if the GSE would 
provide the start and end dates the young men would be 
expected to serve in either the national or military service. 
However, for the nearly 120 priests, military service is a 
violation of their holy orders and contrary to canon law. 
The Bishop further noted in the letter that for the priests, 
the Church would be willing to discuss with the GSE a form of 
alternate, non-military, national service.  Father Uqbagaber 
told the Ambassador "we are not refusing" the GSE directive 
but rather seeking to find a compromise that works for both 
the Catholic Church and the GSE.  Unless the GSE agrees to 
the Church's conditions, they will not provide a list of 
priests and seminarians.  To date, the GSE has not responded 
to the letter. 
 
¶4. (C) The Catholic Church seems well aware of its 
vulnerability to possible GSE reprisals for its stance. 
Father Uqbagaber shared his concerns that the church leaders 
could be arrested, including the Bishops of Asmara, Keren and 
Barentu.  In an aside with Poloff, Uqbagaber also commented 
that the GSE had begun to question the presence of Catholic 
foreign missionaries in Eritrea, many of whom have been 
resident in the country for decades.  In some cases, the GSE 
is making it difficult for the missionaries, primarily nuns, 
to obtain residency permits and international support for 
their operations.  In a separate conversation with Poloff, 
the British Ambassador mentioned that he had spoken with 
Bishop Menghesteab(protect) on December 11.  Menghesteab 
speculated that the GSE might attempt to depose and replace 
the Catholic Church leadership, similar to their actions in 
 
ASMARA 00001058  002 OF 003 
 
 
January 2006 when they replaced the Patriarch of the Eritrean 
Orthodox Church with lay administrator Yoftahe 
Demetros(reftel). 
 
--------------------------------------- 
THE OTHER RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS COMPLY 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Post has heard from multiple sources that the other 
three official religious institutions have complied without 
protest to the GSE directive. (Note: While post has no 
specific details on the Islamic institutions, reliable 
reports indicate that they did receive a letter and submitted 
the requested names. End Note.)  The Eritrean Orthodox Church 
provided the GSE a list of all priests under the age of 50. 
These priests, who in the past were not required to 
participate in national and military service, will be 
required to do training, either at the facility at Sawa in 
western Eritrea or at Wia in the Southern Red Sea district. 
Reportedly, lay administrator Demetros will hand-select a 
number of priests to remain in the Orthodox churches to 
continue the operations and worship services of the churches. 
 At one of the largest churches in Asmara, St. Mary's, the 
number of priests may be reduced from 120 to 30. 
 
¶6. (C) The officially registered Evangelical Lutheran Church 
also handed over their small list of 10-15 pastors.  In a 
December 18 meeting with Poloff, Rev. Zacharias Abraham of 
the unregistered Evangelical Presbyterian Church relayed the 
substance of a conversation between the head of the Norwegian 
Church Aid delegation (NCA) and the head of the Evangelical 
Lutheran Church, Rev. Asfaha Mehari.  (Nte: Rev. Zacharias 
said he had been told this information by NCA 
representatives.  The Reverend's father was a leader in the 
Evangelical Lutheran Church and he continues to maintain ties 
with this church. End Note.)  The NCA representatives pressed 
Rev. Asfaha about the decision to turn over the names, as 
military service by pastors in the Evangelical Lutheran 
Church is also proscribed by the church rules. Rev. Asfaha 
reportedly responded that the service of the nation 
supersedes church requirements. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
GSE DIPS INTO OFFERINGS AND TITHES OF ORTHODOX CHURCH 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶7. (C) In a proclamation reportedly issued on December 5, the 
GSE demanded that all offerings and tithes collected by the 
Orthodox Church, the largest religious institution in 
Eritrea, be deposited in a GSE bank account.  Local parishes 
no longer have keys to the offering boxes and the money is 
collected weekly by the central church administration.  While 
in the past the local churches used the offerings to cover 
church expenses and charities, including the priests, 
salaries, the monthly salaries will now be paid by the GSE. 
Once the church congregations became aware of the changes, 
they showed their objections in their own way.  Poloff was 
told that the offerings at St. Mary,s in Asmara dropped from 
an average of 75,000 nakfa (USD 5000) to 6000 nakfa (USD 400) 
within one week.  (Note: A few opposition and religious 
freedom websites have similar reports of the recent changes 
within the Orthodox Church.  End note.) 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶8. (C) Comment: Post believes that these latest directives, 
like most decisions here, come from the highest levels of the 
GSE.  The GSE's latest maneuvers track with a continuing 
trend of increased government control over all aspects of 
Eritrean society and GSE efforts to eliminate any perceived 
threats to its authority.  That three of the four official 
religious institutions seemingly complied, immediately and 
without protest, with directives running directly against the 
strictures of their organizations indicates the success of 
repeated government intimidation of religious organizations 
in Eritrea.  The Catholic Church leaders are taking a 
courageous and risky stand by refusing to cooperate with the 
 
ASMARA 00001058  003 OF 003 
 
 
GSE directive.  With possible arrests of the bishops, closing 
of the churches or even the placement of a 
government-approved bishop in the Church, potential 
consequences are severe.   From Post's perspective, the human 
rights situation in regard to religious freedom, and in other 
areas as well, continues to deteriorate.  We will be 
proposing in septels a more aggressive posture by the USG in 
response.  We look forward to working closely with Washington 
in reviewing options for both advancing the human rights 
agenda and, as necessary, exposing the true face of the 
Eritrean regime.   End Comment. 
DELISI