Indian Salesians safe in Yemen

The Salesians are the only Catholic priests in the country.

Sana’a:  Five Indian Salesian priests working in Yemen, the only Catholic priests in the troubled nation, are safe but situations are difficult, media reports said quoting one of them.

“As regards the situation here, so far I am safe. Of course there were frightening moments with rockets passing just above the taxi I was traveling in, shooting and yelling around our church, the sound of bombs and rocket explosions within a range of 5 to 10 kilometers, and so on,” website infoans.org quoted one of them from Aden without naming.

The priests of the Bangalore province continue a mission Salesians began in Yemen 28 years ago. They went there at the invitation of the Vicar Apostolic of Abu Dhabi and are present in four centers namely, Sana’a, the Capital of Yemen; Aden, Taiz and Hodeida.

Two of them reside in Sana’a, which has the highest number of Christians. The other three, each live alone in three other centers.

The Salesians are the only Catholic priests in the country, who take care of three recognized churches in Aden attending to the needs of expatriate Catholics from different parts of the world, especially the Philippines and India, mostly as nurses.

They and Sisters of Charity are the only Catholic Religious Congregations present in the country. Sisters are engaged in a number of humanitarian activities in hospitals, centers for the aged and the infirm as well as in Homes for needy children.

In Sana’a the Salesians also serve the Catholics attached to the diplomatic missions of the various countries.
The situation has always been difficult for the Salesians but recent happenings in Yemen appear to have made it more difficult than ever.

The internal struggle for power among the various factions has been complicated by the direct entry of Saudi Arabia into the fray with the bombardment of the military installations of the Houthis – a well-organised and influential Shiite group in a majority Sunni population. They have made a strong bid for control of the whole of Yemen forcing the President to flee the capital and later the country.

The lack of an authoritative central power and the withdrawal of foreign missions has made the continued presence in the country all the more difficult and dangerous. India has asked its citizens, who number more than 4000, to leave the country.

“Even though there was a civil war here earlier, Aden was a safe place with the presence of many established embassies and their security guards and the army around. But now it is different. There are no embassies in Aden and the countries that were protecting and training the military here have pulled out. Many business firms, companies and wealthy families have left, the Salesian said.

"Even the military are split, with one group supporting the rebels, others supporting the former president and still others the present President. The same is true with regard to other institutions like the police. The local militias owe allegiance to individual leaders and we have some idea of the actual situation facing the country and its people," he said.

Source: infoans