Ministers of Peace?

(13 June 2006 - RV) The Government of Eritrea is forcing priests and seminarians to submit to the draft and perform regular military service. It has so far ignored letters from the country's three Catholic bishops, explaining that military service as combat soldiers is not in accordance with the role of clergy. The Catholic Charity, Aid to the Church in Need, has been active in Eritrea. John Pontifex, that organization's Head of Press and Information, says that Eritrean society is heavily militarized.