Letter to the Vatican Regarding Rodolfo Graziani the Butcher of Ethiopia

Global Alliance for Justice: The Ethiopian Cause,October 25, 2012

Apostolic Nunciature
3339 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20008-3687

Your Excellency may be aware that the BBC reported on August 11, 2012, a ceremony was held in the presence of a Vatican representative in which a memorial was opened and draped in the Italian flag to “honor” the convicted war criminal Field Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, one of the most heinous and despicable figures of the Second World War.

During the Italian war on Ethiopia 1936-1941, the Italian fascists carried out a systematic mass extermination campaign in Ethiopia with poison gas sprayed from airplanes and other horrific atrocities that claimed the lives of no less than 1,000,000 Ethiopian men, women and children, including 30,000 massacred in only three days in Addis Ababa as well as the reprisal killings of the entire monastic community at the historic Debre Libanos Monastery. In addition, 2,000 churches and 525,000 homes were destroyed by the Italian Fascists. These atrocities were carried out under the direct command of Graziani known as the Butcher of Addis Ababa.

Unfortunately, it is also a historic fact that representatives of the Catholic Church supported, participated in and even encouraged these brazen acts of genocide against Orthodox Christian Ethiopians who were some how viewed under the dogma of the time as less civilized and not deserving of respect as fellow Christians. The widely disseminated report that a representative of the Vatican was present at the inauguration of Graziani memorial is particularly disturbing to us.

We are therefore requesting the following:

1. Condemnation of the Graziani memorial;
2. An expression of regret by an office of the Vatican for the actions of the fascist colonizers (1935-1941) and those priests who supported the atrocities.
3. A joint effort must be made to identify, account for, and restore relics, manuscripts, and books of our Holy Church including those that were deposited with the Vatican Library for safekeeping.

The Global Alliance for Justice – The Ethiopian Cause advocates for the recognition of the Ethiopian genocide and is chaired by His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle- Selassie Haile Selassie, the grandson of Emperor Haile-Selassie I who along with Ethiopian patriots liberated the country from the Italians.

Sincerely,

Kidane Alemaye