Waldiba’s Crisis & a glimpse at MK’s Report

Waldiba’s Crisis & a glimpse at MK’s Report

Mahibere Kidusan is regarded by many as the last frontier that stands against the swelling tide of indifference and complacency that has overtaken the EOTC synod. When MK set out to investigate the Waldiba crisis many indeed expected it to represent the voice of the voiceless – those who still stood for the unwavering orthodox faith, those unpolluted by the impotency of tolerance that characterizes our age. In times where most church authorities prefer silence for fear of losing their positions, we are desperately in need of someone to fearlessly proclaim the truth and point out the error without any regard to the dire consequences. 

Unfortunately MK’s investigative report did not sound as though it was prepared by a body that felt compassion for the perceived misery of the church. From the report it is clear that Mk authorities know full well the extent of damage the sugar industry would cause to the Waldiba Monasteries in particular and the essence of Ethiopian orthodoxy in general. We are not talking about the physical consequences of taking few acres of land from Waldiba. 

Waldiba represents the spiritual core of orthodoxy and monastic life in Ethiopia. It is among the ancient monasteries that remain unpolluted by the ‘ modern’ world and its corrupt ways. It is the last bastion of true monastic life whose presence is enough to remind us of the tradition of our fathers that seems inaccessible to our age and towards which we must strive. Let us not forget that in times when Egyptian bishops were not there to guide the flock and ecclesiastical authorities were absent for extended periods, it was monastic spirituality that carried the beacon and delivered the truth ‘that was once delivered to the saints’ to our generation.

The corruptive influence such a massive project and settlement has to the monastic life of Waldiba that represents the spiritual reservoir of our church can never be compensated. I am sure the MK are not ignorant of this. So why do they repeatedly talk of the significance of undertaking negotiations with the government and about the acceptability of compensations for the perceived damages?

From the start it seemed as though the report writers were trying to depict the situation in such a way that the deeds of the government would be excused by the reader. Or else why would they need to write a couple of pages that detail the scope and intent of the sugar industry?

‘ፋብሪካው በቀን 25000  አገዳ መፍጨት የሚችል አቅም አለው። ከዚህ ውስጥ 10 ፐርሰንት ማለትም 2500 ቶን ስኳር በቀን ያመርታል። ከዚህም በተጨማሪ ከተረፈ ምርቱ አታኖል ያመርታል።’…

It seems by saying something about the perceived significance of the sugar project ahead of addressing the religious accusation, they intended to arouse favorable attitude towards the project.  The developmental significance of the industry is not the issue. What concerns us is to know in no uncertain terms whether the government has in any way damaged/compromised/ the dignity and integrity of the monasteries. Period!! 

On the other hand concerning the pertinent questions of the damages done by the government the report is filled with impotent and diplomatic words. Granted - it does not hide such preposterous acts as removing holy relics of saints, the destruction of vital farmlands, etc. However, the misdeeds are presented as if the crisis is exclusively the concern of the monastic fathers፡

• ‘’የግድቡ ግማሽ ክፍል ወደ ዋልድባ መንደር መግባቱ’ መነኮሳቱ የሚያቀርቡት ተቃውሞ ነው።…
• ‘’አጽመ ቅዱሳን ተነስቷል’ ይህ ሁለተኛው የገዳሙ መነኮሳት አቤቱታ ነው።’…
• ወደ አባ ነባ ገዳም መንገድ ተቀዷል’ የሚለው ሶስተኛው የመነኮሳቱ አቤቱታ ነው።’…
• ‘ገዳማታችን፣ አድባራቶቻችን ሊፈርሱብን፣ የእርሻ መሬቶቻችን በውሃ ሊጠፋብን ነው’ የሚለው ደግሞ አራተኛው የገዳማውያኑ አቤቱታ ነው።…
• የግድቡ ውሃ ሞፈር ቤታችን የሆነውንና በቅዱሱ ክልል ውስጥ  የሚገኘውን አባ ነባ ገዳም ያጥለቀልቀዋል’ ይህ …. መነኮሳቱ የሚያነሱት ስጋት ነው።…

Is that just it? - Monk’s ‘አቤቱታ’ and ‘ስጋት’ ? Are we to assume that such spiritually monumental issues are just the concerns of some dissatisfied monks? By presenting the problems as such the report diminishes its true significance. It is by no means only the problem of monks residing is some remote monastery.  I can’t stress enough when I say seemingly minute problems that threaten the well being of these monasteries pose a potent danger to our spiritual existence. Plus this is not some neutral and foreign body that is presenting the report. They are not there to settle the dispute between the government and some ‘rebellious’ monks. This is MK!!! They are supposed to take the problem as their problem and stand by the stand of the defenseless monks.  

What is more tragic is the way the report shamelessly attempts to further downplay these vital concerns:

‘አንዳንድ ገዳማውያንም ይህንኑ አረጋግጠውልናል። ነገር ግን በሃያው አጽሞች በክብር ማረፍ ቢስማሙም ከቦታው እንዲፈልሱ የተደረጉት አጽሞች ቁጥር ላይ ግን አይስማሙም።…’ (As if moving only few relics of saints diminishes the insult and obvious disrespect the government is displaying through such actions. As representatives of the church they should be feeling the agony of realizing that it is the dignity of the saints that is being trampled with and consequently condemn such actions.)

‘እኛም ይሄው መንገድ መቀደዱን ያየን ቢሆንም በአሁኑ ወቅት ምንም አይነት አገልግሎት እንደማይሰጥ ተመልክተናል…” (again we see complacency. Instead of trying to find some form of consolation by asserting that the road is not put into use a more ortho-centric report would have emphasized the future consequence of having the unused road around on the spiritual purity of the monasteries.)

‘እንደፕሮጀክት ሓላፊዎቹ ማብራሪያ እነዚህ ገዳማት የሚነሱት ከግድቡ ወደ ሸንኮራ ልማቱ የሚሔደው ውሃ ስለሚያጥለቀልቃቸው ነው።’… (Again an irrelevant statement! What is it to us to know the reason they are removed? Does it make it any more consoling or less painful? The truth is that Churches are being removed and the Waldiba monasteries are being deprived of their irreplaceable farmlands making their future sustained existence doubtful! And orthodox Christians who have any shred of concern for the well being of their church have to do something about it! This was what the MK report should have said!)

‘… እንዳይፈስም በግድቡ ምዕራባዊ ክፍል …የግድብ ሙላት መከላከያ ተሰርቶለታል። ከዚህ አንጻር ውሃው ወደ ቅዱሱ ክልል ወደ አባ ነፃ ገዳም የመፍሰስ ዕድል የለውም።’ (More complacency! Am I reading the report of a body that has gone to investigate ON BEHALF of the Church?) Of course that is what government authorities who desperately want to get the project going would say. They would definitely say there is no chance of flooding! Would they care if the monasteries get flooded? Again I would assume any institution who stands for the best interests of the church would not take their word for granted and would instead voice its concerns /no matter how narrow the possibility of the danger is/

Now let’s go to MK’s official position. It says ‘የማህበሩ አስተያየቶች’. Again where it is supposed to clarify its position, the report has instead preferred to disgracefully call it ‘opinions’. Why do they not clearly take a stand instead of toying around with words?

‘ነገር ግን በዋልድባ ድንበር ላይ የሚሰራው ፕሮጀክት በገዳሙ ላይ የሚያመጣው አሉታዊ ተጽእኖ አለው በሚል የገዳሙ ማሕበርና ምዕመናን የተለያዩ ሐሳቦችን እየሰነዘሩ ነው።’ Now the team has been to the monasteries and have seen with their eyes what happened. So why the reluctance to say … we believe this is WRONG??? Why make it as if the claims are mere opinions of some individuals? Disappointing!

Finally the report identifies two perceived problems with the project implementation:

1. አስቀድሞ በቂ የሆነ ውይይት ከሚመለከታቸው አካላት ጋር በተለይም ከገዳማውያኑ ጋር አለማድረጉ፤
2. ችግሩን ለመፍታት የተሄደበት መንገድ አግባብነት ጥያቄ የሚያስነሳ መሆኑ ይጠቀሳሉ።

These statements imply that the only thing the government did wrong was not to have consulted the authorities and its lack of willingness to undertake negotiations. So if the government had properly negotiated (bribed??) the monastic authorities would it have been ok for it to transgress the Monastries’ rights, remove holy relics, take down their farmlands and start constructions where it was explicitly forbidden to do so?? We do not read anything about condemning the sugar project itself. It is not as if Waldiba is the only place conducive for Sugar industry or the government is facing shortage of territories for investment. So I don’t think it is too much to ask if we say – ‘get away from Waldiba and do it somewhere else!’

And the report goes on to praise the willingness shown on the part of the government to negotiate and pay the necessary compensation. Moreover it suggests that the government undertake exhaustive discussions with Church authorities to resolve the conflict:

በውይይቱም መንግስት ሙሉ የፕሮጀክት ሰነዱን ይዞ በመቅረብ ማስረዳትና የውይይቶቹ ውጤት መልካም እንዲሆን ማድረግ እንዳለበት እናምናለን። (Again the report is wrongly asserting that absence of discussion is the only problem. Lengthy discussions are not going to take away the fact that our spiritual fortress is compromised by the sugar industry and that these blatant actions could only be redeemed if the project is closed.)

‘ምእመናንም እንደ ቤተክርስቲያን ልጅነታቸው ለገዳሙ መቆርቆራቸው ተገቢና አስፈላጊም ነው።፡ምናልባት የመረጃ ማጣት፣ የቦታው ርቀት፣ ከተለያዩ ሚዲያዎች በየጊዜው የተለያዩ መረጃዎች መውጣታቸው ብዙዎችን ረብሿል፣ ጽንፍም እስከማስያዝ ድርሷል። ይህ ሁኔታ ደግሞ ወደ ስሜታዊነት እንዳያደርሰን መጠንቀቅ ያሻል።’ Here the report attempts to basically say : ‘Look your concern is good and should be encouraged. But you are misinformed. You should not take sides and do ‘emotional things’ such as taking up fire arms, traveling to Waldiba and offering to sacrifice your lives is a bit too far.’ But are we Christians misinformed? Of course not. The report has itself indicated that all the rumors are true. So where is the misinformation and a gap in understanding? And what does it mean when it says ‘going too far?’ and being emotional?’ when our very spiritual existence is at stake and when we are being robbed of the very essence of our spirituality by a government who neither acknowledges God nor honor religion – is choosing to die for your religion going too far? Or being emotional? 

By writing such a cold and complacent report MK have done more to damage the movement concerned Christians are attempting to undertake against the project than the silence of the EOTC synod could possibly have affected! Now that such a respected institution as MK who has the hearts of the orthodox faithful has effectively poured cold water over any attempt to stop the despicable action of the government, there is no longer any need to try to protest against it. It is ok as long as the government provides compensations and discusses the matter with church authorities. The local farmers, who are fighting to put a stop to the project, have shown more courage than most of us would ever attempt and what have we done to support them? We are telling them that there is no problem and that they are being emotional! I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say that by this report the MK has not been brave enough to stand for the cause of the church. If it continues to avoid speaking the truth over crucial church issues such as this, I am afraid it won’t be too long before its credibility gets tragically compromised.

This comment is not meant to attack MK or portray it in a negative manner. Far from it, it is my profound belief that MK, with all its imperfections and inadequacies, represents the hope and future of our church. Nor have I underestimated the extensive pressure it is in. It is only recently that Holy fathers who are members of the synod were physically assaulted which shows the viciousness of the enemy who is not afraid to utilize any means to achieve its goals.

I assume MK authorities, by avoiding confrontations, hope to prolong the existence of the institution. Indeed Mahibere Kidusan has and continues to provide invaluable services and support to innumerable churches throughout the country. Reigniting the spiritual welfare of the youth has also been the task that has been largely carried out by this influential institution. So I empathize with their intention to take seemingly necessary steps to ensure that the institution keeps going. 

Yet how far does one go in compromising one’s ideals? if Mk , in its attempts to guarantee its survival, lost the ideals and values it stood for - then what is the point of preserving its existence? Wasn’t Isaiah punished with leprosy for failing to fearlessly condemn the king’s deeds? On the other hand wasn’t St. Dioscoros’ resolve in condemning the interference of Roman emperors on church affairs the pivot that defined orthodox zealousness? I suppose there comes a point where MK as an institution and the rest of us as responsible Christians have to choose which side we are on and take a stand against the enemy no matter how mighty it is. 

May the Lord’s grace help MK to overcome the imminent threat they are confronted with and continue to shine as the candle that flickers on a mountain.