Address of His Grace Abune Berhaneyesus D. Souraphiel to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI Ad Limina visit: 17th October, 2005     Your Holiness,   We, the Bishops of Ethiopia and Eritrea, gladly fulfilling what is laid down in the Sacred Canons, have come to the city of Rome to venerate the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul, and to render fitting homage to Your Holiness as the Vicar of Christ, Supreme Pontiff and Successor of St. Peter.   We would like to thank your Holiness for your graciousness in receiving us. This encounter gives us the opportunity to express to Your Holiness our filial love, our devotion, our fidelity and obedience  to the See of Peter.   These sentiments, we express, in the name of our churches of Ethiopia and Eritrea, on behalf of our clergy, the religious institutes of men and women, and in the name of our faithful. People. We profess all these sentiments fully aware of what is stated in the Vatican Council "The Roman Pontiff, as Vicar of Christ and successor of Peter, is the permanent and visible principle and foundation of the unity of the Church and of Communion in the Church." (LG n.23).   We also avail ourselves of this opportunity to thank Your Holiness for accepting the Petrine office to confirm us in the faith, and we are grateful that you carry out this task by means of such an inspiring ministry.   Your Holiness,   The name, you have chosen has very significant and cherished connotations in Ethiopia and Eritrea.  We gladly recall that Pope Benedict XV established the Congregation for Oriental Churches, The Pontifical Oriental Institute, and founded the "Ethiopian College"  in the Vatican as an extended development of the previous Santo Stefano degli Abissini Church and Hospice of the Abyssinians which in 1997 celebrated the 500th Anniversary of its establishment.  There is, however, documented evidence dating back to 1351 that the Church and Hospice in the Vatican was already residence for Ethiopian pilgrims to the tombs of the Apostles.   These recollections come to our mind while praying for you, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. We, especially, express our filial gratitude to Your Holiness for being with us at the celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Pontifical Ethiopian College, which was canonically founded in 1930 by Pope Pius XI.  We would like to highlight that the     Pontifical Ethiopian college is vital to the existence and continuation of the Catholic faith in Ethiopia and Eritrea. As the history of the college reveals, the impact it has made through the centuries is the result of the benevolence of the Holy See.   Your Holiness,   What distinguishes the presence of the Church in Ethiopia and Eritrea is what we are trying to do in evangelization by promoting  integral  human development. By this we mean giving service to human persons in their spiritual and human dimensions, by preaching the Gospel in its dual aspect as the gospel of the Good News of salvation and the gospel of Compassion for the multitudes, namely development and human well being. In this two-fold aspect the diocesan clergy and the religious institutes of men and women give devoted service. We also wish to acknowledge with gratitude the support and contribution of  the Catholic aid organisations.   Holy Father,   We would also like to remember our dear predecessors who are no more with us and have gone to rest with the Lord, namely, His Eminence Cardinal Paulos Tsadua, Emeritus Archbishop of Addis Abeba, His Excellency Abune Abraha Francois, Emeritus Eparch of Asmara, His Excellency Abune Tesfamariam Bedho, Eparch of Keren, His Excellency Abune Yohannes Woldeghiorghis, Vicar Apostolic of Meki, His Excellency Abune Armido G. Gasparini, Emeritus Vicar Apostolic of Awassa.   We would like to bring  to your kind attention, Holy Father, that in Ethiopia, we are going to celebrate the Jubilee of the year 2000 according to the Ethiopian Calendar which shall be celebrated in the year of 2007/8, Gregorian Calendar. We humbly invite you to visit both Ethiopia and Eritrea. On this occasion, it would be a great honour for us and our Catholic faithful of both countries. Above all, it would be a visit to promote Christian Unity particularly between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Your visit would foster peace among the peoples of the two sisterly countries which had passed through a terrible war and still experience tensions because of unresolved border issues.   In conclusion, I will like to thank His Eminence Cardinal Paulos Tsadua, the late Emeritus Archbishop of Addis Abeba, the Congregation for Oriental Churches, and the Vatican Governorate for their contribution to the Pontifical Ethiopian College.   We thank you, Holy Father, for having received us in audience, and we humbly implore your apostolic blessing on us, our countries and our peoples.

On October 17, 2005, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI Addresses the Ethiopian and Eritrean Catholic Bishops Conference on the Occasion of 75th Anniversary of Its Foundation at the Ethiopian College in Vatican City

Dear Brother Bishops,     With joy I greet you, the Bishops of Ethiopia and Eritrea, on your visit ad limina Apostolorum and I thank you for the gracious words addressed to me on your behalf by Archbishop Berhaneyesus Souraphiel, President of your Episcopal Conference. It is particularly appropriate that this meeting should take place here in the Pontifical Ethiopian College, as you celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the opening of the present building. The location of the College here inside Vatican City is an eloquent sign of the close bonds of communion linking the Church in your countries with the See of Rome. You are heirs to an ancient and venerable tradition of Christian witness, the seeds of which were sown when the minister of the Ethiopian Queen asked to be baptized (cf. Acts 8:36). In recent centuries, the peoples of the Horn of Africa have welcomed European missionaries, whose work has strengthened the ties between the See of Peter and the local Church. I rejoice to see that today, Catholics in your territories continue to proclaim with one voice the apostolic faith that has been handed down, “so that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21). Indeed, the united witness that you give, transcending all political and ethnic divisions, has a vital role to play in bringing healing and reconciliation to the troubled region in which you live. When there is genuine commitment to following Christ, “the way, the truth and the life” (Jn 14:6), difficulties and misunderstandings of whatever kind can be overcome, because in him God has reconciled the world to himself (cf. 2 Cor 5: 19) and in him all people can find the answer to their deepest aspirations. I encourage you in particular to express solidarity in whatever way you can with your suffering brothers and sisters in Somalia, where political instability makes it almost impossible to live with the dignity that belongs properly to every human person. As authentic teachers of the faith, help your people to understand that there can be no peace without justice and no justice without forgiveness (cf. Message for the 2002 World Day of Peace). In this way you will be true sons of your Father in heaven (cf. Mt 5:45). In your countries, where Catholics are such a small minority, the work of ecumenical dialogue takes on particular urgency, and I am glad that your Episcopal Conference has been addressing this challenge. Whatever obstacles you may encounter, do not be deterred from carrying forward this vital task. Among Christians, genuine fraternity is no mere sentiment, nor does it imply indifference to the truth. It is rooted in the sacrament of Baptism which makes us members of the Body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor 12:13; Eph 4:4-6}. Since ecumenical progress also depends upon good theological formation, it should be greatly assisted by the establishment of a Catholic University in Ethiopia, and I give thanks to God that the long negotiations over this project have recently borne fruit. Practical ecumenism in the form of joint humanitarian endeavours will also serve to deepen the bonds of communion as you reach out with Christ-like compassion towards the sick, the hungry, refugees, displaced persons and victims of war. As you know, I recently had the joy of celebrating World Youth Day with a multitude of young people from all over the world. In your countries, where around half the population is under twenty years of age, you too have numerous opportunities to harness the vitality and enthusiasm of the new generation. With their ideals, their energy and their desire to engage deeply with all that is good and true, young people need to be helped to discover that friendship With Christ offers them everything they are seeking (d. Homily for the Inauguration of the Pontificate, 24 Apri12005). Encourage them to set out on the adventure of discipleship, and help them to recognize and respond generously if God is calling them to serve him in the priesthood and the religious life. In paying tribute to the work of generations of missionaries - including some of you here present - I pray at the same time that the seeds which have been planted will continue to bear fruit in a rich harvest of indigenous vocations. Your visit to Rome takes place in the closing days of this Year of the Eucharist. As I conclude my remarks today, I urge you to deepen your personal devotion to this great mystery, by which Christ gives himself totally to us so as to nourish us and to transform us into his likeness. Your people have experienced famine, oppression and warfare. Help them to discover in the Eucharist the central act of transformation that alone can truly renew the world, changing violence into love, slavery into freedom, death into life (cf. Homily at World Youth Day 21 August 2005). I entrust you and your priests, deacons, religious and lay faithful to the intercession of Mary, Woman of the Eucharist, and I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of grace and strength in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.   From the Vatican, 17 October 2005