ERITREA: Holy Apostles College Graduates Eight Students in Eritrea Despite Funding Challenges
Graduation Eritrea
By Zerayohannes Ghebrehiwet
Holy Apostles College and Seminary (HACS), a distance-learning institute, graduated 8 students from the 6th cohort with a Master of Arts (MA) on January 5, 2026. The graduation ceremony began with a Thanksgiving Holy Mass presided over by Archbishop Menghisteab Tesfamariam, accompanied by eleven concelebrants at the Holy Savior’s Major Seminary Church.
Archbishop Menghisteab congratulated the graduating students for completing the two years of studies successfully, despite all the challenges and obstacles, and for reaching this day to harvest the fruits of their sweat. Reflecting on the Holy Gospel Reading about the ‘Parable of the Talents’ (Mt 25:14 – 30), His Grace highlighted the different talents God gave each one of us, which need to be shared with our brothers and sisters.
“God gave for each one of us His grace according to our ability, and we are expected to share and serve our communities and our church for the salvation of souls and for sanctity,” he said to the graduates. The prelate also briefed on the background of the HACS, including how it began, its challenges and shortcomings, its successes, and the program’s plans. “We do have the plan to continue with the seventh-round training, but funding shortages become the main constraint for this, and we are still optimistic either gate will be open soon,” he said, as there might be rays of hope to shine soon.
Representing the graduating students, Sr. Walet Tesfay from the Ursuline Sisters delivered a congratulatory message and expressed gratitude for reaching this blessed date and Thanksgiving Day. “I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to God, who granted us Life and accompanied us by His visible and invisible graces throughout the past years in our studies. It was a long and arduous journey interrupted by many impediments, but by the strength and love of God, we overcame all these and completed our studies,” she said, emphasizing the hard work, commitment, passion, and persistence that at last brought them to successful completion.
Graduate’s Representative, Sr. Walet, delivering a speech
Sr. Walet also expressed heartfelt gratitude to his grace archbishop Menghisteab for his selfless and generous assistance in their journey; his concern and encouragement empowered them to work hard and be dedicated to their studies. “I am especially grateful for his grace’s effort to provide us with the required reading materials,” she said.
In concluding her speech, Sr. Walet expressed her gratitude to the HACS community and all the staff members who diligently made every effort to help them, and she felt privileged to be part of this school family for two years. And to her fellow graduates, she said, “The time we study together was a time of grace and call to great responsibility as Christ divided the talents among three servants according to their ability (Mt 25:14), God also distributes these talents daily among us. Each day is a gift and a talent that urges us to work hard. Today, we have added another talent, or we have received a seed that should germinate in our lives.
“Our world, which is overwhelmed by different forms of fear and darkness, hopes to see light through us, the world which has lost its taste is longing to get the flavor of life by our generous involvement. Let us reach out to the many broken families among us. Let us inspire the youth by being a good example and by exercising charity to all people.”
Finally, his grace, Archbishop Menghisteab, concluded the graduation ceremony by presenting the graduates with certificates.
The Holy Apostles College & Seminary (HACS) began in 2015 to offer a two-year distance-learning course in Philosophy, Theology, and Pastoral for young priests, sisters of various congregations, and, to some extent, a few lay people who are unable to pursue further studies while living outside the country. The graduates of the 6th cohort were six priests, one Ursuline sister, and one layperson.
To date, HACS Distance Learning has graduated 68 students, and according to the archbishop, the 7th cohort is set to begin in the very near future.
