Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Motherland, Diaspora Resume Dialogue

At its recent session this past weekend the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church blessed the resumption of dialogue between the Addis Abeba Patriarchate and the Synod in Exile of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the Ethiopian and Eritrean Diasporas. More here.

The Synod in Exile is led by Patriarch Abune Merqoriyos, the former Archbishop of Gonder who was elected to the patriarchate under the Ethiopian Communist regime. When the latter was overthrown by a Tigrayan Marxist movement in the 1990s, Abune Merqoriyos was forced into retirement and replaced by an ethnic Tigrayan. Abune Merqoriyos now leads a large contingent of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church outside Ethiopia, with a hierarchy and parishes scattered across the globe.

Eritrean Orthodox Abroad Divided Between Two Patriarchs

As Eritrea sinks deeper into an economic depression caused by the dictatorship of Isaias Afewerqi divisions within the Eritrean Diaspora between supporters and opponents of the Isaias regime are becoming increasingly apparent, to the point of dividing the Eritrean Orthodox Diocese of North America, which associated itself with the Coptic Orthodox Church following the Eritrean government's deposition of Patriarch Abune Ant'oniyos of Asmera, between supporters of the deposed patriarch and supporters of the new, government-appointed patriarch, Abune Diyosqoros. More here.