Despite the urgency of actions of the very first evangelization, Africa has only two Apostolic Prefectures: Western Sahara and ... the Apostolic Prefecture of Robe (Ethiopia): established in 2012 and where our Community is located.
The Apostolic Prefecture of Robe covers an area of 102,769 square kilometres. It can rightly be called a “Mesopotamia”, a land that is between two rivers: the Gannale (to the East) and the Wabe Shabelle (to the North and West of its borders). The latter, with its 2,050 meters, is the seventh longest river in Africa.
A rough estimate indicates the Islamic religion at 97% of the population.
In the oldest cities there is the Orthodox Church, a legacy of the Amara Christian empire. Only in the cities there are small Protestant and Catholic communities.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia recognizes a secular state, where religious freedom is one of the pillars of civil society. This fosters a peaceful climate in which conversions from one religion to another are also possible, without dramatic consequences. Islamic fundamentalist infiltration, however, is unfortunately increasingly frequent, particularly in the area of our Prefecture that looks towards Somalia, one of the most unstable areas on the entire planet (like the whole Horn of Africa).


Presence of the Catholic Church in the Prefecture of Robe
The presence of the Catholic Church in the area is recent: it dates to just less than30 years ago. The faithful represent just 0.03% of the entire population of the Prefecture… this presence can only have prophetic meaning!
Catholics enjoy considerable esteem for their attention to the last, for their humble and respectful attitude to the local culture and languages. The smallness which distinguishes it, becomes a double opportunity: to make it “more evangelical” just like the yeast that ferments pasta and… “they do not scare anyone”: that is to say, they can reach out to everyone.
Mobility must be a characteristic note of all the missionary agents. The true physiognomy of a Prefecture is not the “home”, but the “tent”… precisely to guarantee tireless going towards the others.
Here are the missionary agents working full-time for the very first evangelization:
- Father Angelo Antolini (Italian Capuchin friar), Apostolic Prefect of Robe appointed in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.
- The Capuchins and the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Christ in Kofale.
- a Fidei Donum priest of the Diocese of Gambella (Ethiopia) in Dodola.
- 2 priests and a lay missionary Fidei Donum of the Diocese of Padua (Italy), the Missionary Community of Villaregia and a Fidei Donum married couple of the Diocese of Fermo (Italy) in Robe.
- the sisters of Mother Teresa in Goba, one sister of Stella Mattutina in Gode.