T'imqet (Theophany) in Addis Abeba

The tabots (arks) present at today's patriarchal Theophany celebrations at Jan Meda in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.

The crowds at Jan Meda today.

Patriarch Abune P'awlos of Addis Abeba blessing the faithful at Jan Meda with holy water.

Statue of Abune P'awlos to be Removed

Since the 2005 elections in Ethiopia there has been growing tension within the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church between Patriarch Abune P'awlos, who was appointed by the current Ethiopian government when it came to power in the 1990s, and the Holy Synod. On 30 October the Holy Synod, which removed Abune P'awlos' administrative authority within the Church of Ethiopia a while ago, ordered that a statue of the patriarch erected at the new patriarchal church in Addis Abeba (Bole Medhane Alem) be removed. The statue wasn't up when I was last in Addis, but apparently it provoked a great deal of controversy as many felt it inappropriate to put up a statue of a living hierarch of the Church.