SOMALIA, THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN

Somalia is located on the horn of the east coast of Africa, and is bordered on the north by Djibouti and the Gulf of Aden, on the east by the Indian Ocean, on the southwest by Kenya and on the west by Ethiopia. Largely semi-desert, with the exception of irrigated areas along the two rivers, Juba and Shabele, in the south, the region is plateau, rising to hills in the north. Natural resources, which are under-exploited, include uranium, iron ore, tin, gypsum, copper, bauxite and salt. Most of the population are nomadic farmers who raise livestock; other agricultural products include bananas, sorghum, corn, sugarcane, sesame seeds and mangoes.

In 1960 Somalia became an independent republic formed by the union of the British Somaliland Protectorate to the north and the Italian trusteeship territory of Somalia to the south. Subsequent border disputes with Kenya and Ethiopia were eventually resolved, and in 1969 the region became a Marxist dictatorship under General Muhammad Siyad Barrah (1911–95) as the Somali Democratic Republic. By 1988 the economy was in tatters due to drought and civil wars, resulting in a humanitarian disaster as thousands died due to famine and disease. In 1991 a rebel Muslim faction took control of the former British protectorate, but fighting continued in the south, despite U.N. efforts at a ceasefire. In 1995 General Muhammad Aidid declared himself president. Aidid was killed in 1996 and the presidency claimed by his son, Hussein Aidid, although with no end to the violence. The inhabitants are mostly Somalis, a Hamitic people, who are almost all Sunni Muslims. There are also Arab and Egyptian minorities, as well as small Indian, Pakistani, Italian and British populations. Most of the population is pastoral nomads. The country was again visited by

drought in 2000, increasing the humanitarian tragedy in this region. At the start of the 21st century there was no functioning government in Somalia.

History. The region was crossed by Muslim and Arab trading routes from the 7th century, and by the 10th century Somali nomads inhabited the interior regions. The British entered the region after occupying Yemen, and the region was divided into British and Italian spheres of influence. Successive civil administrations restricted Catholic missionary activity to the spiritual care of immigrants. Capuchin missionaries labored in the northern part from 1891 until 1910 when the British expelled them. From 1904 trinitarians and then con solata missionary fathers were entrusted with the southern, Italian-occupied section until 1930 when the Franciscans took charge. In 1904 the Prefecture Apostolic of Benadir was created in southern Somalia, while Northern Somalia became part of the Vicariate of Arabia under the Capuchins. In 1927 southern Somalia was constituted the Vicariate of Mogadishu.

The "Somali Socialistic Revolution" brought Mohamed Siyad Barre to power on Oct. 21, 1969. For the first three years of this government the Catholic Church continued its social activities, mainly in the fields of education and health, as well as its pastoral commitments. In December of 1971 northern Somalia was separated from the vicariate of Arabia and became part of the vicariate of Mogadishu; on Nov. 20, 1975, the vicariate became the diocese of Mogadishu.

In 1972 the Marxist government nationalized all 15 of the country's Catholic schools, and other properties were confiscated. Under threats of violence from Islamic extremists many Christians of all denominations left the country. Franciscans were reduced from 30 to 10, and the Consolata sisters from 95 to 35, and there was also a reduction in the number of lay missionaries. Religious sisters continued to work after this time in government hospitals. The general situation of Somalia continued to worsen as a consequence of the Ogaden war (1977–78), which was lost by Somalia. In response to the requests of the government, Mogadishu Bishop Colombo was able to bring in more sisters—the St. Joseph of Tarbes sisters and the Mother of Carmel sisters—from India to work as nurses in Mogadishu hospitals.

The influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Ogaden war saw the Church in the frontline of service. Bishop Colombo founded Caritas Somalia in 1980 as the instrument of the Catholic community in helping refugees, providing hundreds of wells for drinking water, constructing a hospital in Qorioley and contributing to agricultural and forestation projects. During the 1980s an interreligious library was opened at the Mogadishu Cathedral. The liturgy was translated into Somali, and catechetical books in Somali were also produced. There was also collaboration with Protestants, who used to conduct religious services in the two Catholic churches of Mogadishu.

On July 9, 1989, Bishop Colombo was murdered, and replaced by apostolic administrator G. Bertin. The rebellion against the regime of Siyad Barre reached Mogadishu in late December of 1990, and the cathedral was ransacked and destroyed by fire within weeks. The civil war that followed destroyed all the properties of the Church in the country and obliged all the missionaries and most Christians to leave Somalia. Only a few dozen Somali Christians remained underground, due to the strong threat of Muslim fundamentalists. One of the last missionaries to remain, Father Turati, was murdered in February of 1991. Apostolic administrator Bertin, with the last four Consolata sisters, took refuge in Nairobi, Kenya, from where he attempted to minister to the few remaining Catholics in Somalia and guide the work of Caritas Somalia. The sisters eventually returned to Mogadishu.

The 1990s saw the destruction of the Somali state, the secession of the northern regions as the Republic of Somaliland, anarchy, famine, and banditry. For humanitarian reasons the international community intervened with "Operation Restore Hope," followed by UNOSOM 2, a United Nations operation, which remained in the region from 1995 until violence forced them to leave two years later. The Church, along with other nongovernmental organizations, remained active in Somalia, attempting through the Caritas network to alleviate the terrible consequences of the region's human disaster.

By 1998 a priest and the four Consolata sisters were all that remained in the country. The sisters operated a hospital in Mogadishu where they provided maternity care and treated 500 children per week. After one sister was kidnapped on Sept. 10, 1998, the sisters—the last Catholic missionaries in Somalia—were forced to leave the country. Islam was considered the state religion, despite the absence of an organized government. Shari‘a (Islamic Law) was increasingly implemented in civil

governments throughout the region, particularly in the radicalized north, and proselytization was considered a criminal offense.

Bibliography: The Catholic Directory of East and West Africa 1961 (Nairobi 1961). Le missioni cattoliche: Storia, geographia, statistica (Rome 1950) 208, 92–93. Bilan du Monde 2:793–795. Annuario Pontificio has information on all diocese.

[t. a. white/

g. bertin/eds.]