New Patriarch of Ethiopia Elected

A special council of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church has elected Archbishop Abune Matiyas (Asrat) of Jerusalem as the sixth Patriarch of Ethiopia. Born in Sebuha, Tigray, in 1940, as Teklemaryam Asrat, the future patriarch received a traditional clerical education, being ordained a deacon in 1954 prior to his entrance into Tigray's Chohay Monastery, where he was tonsured a monk in 1962.

Two years after his tonsure and ordination to the priesthood Fr. Teklemaryam was attached to Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Abeba, eventually becoming the personal secretary of Patriarch Tekle Haimanot of blessed memory. In 1978 Fr. Teklemaryam was consecrated to the episcopacy with the name Matiyas (Matthias), eventually being elected Archbishop of Jerusalem.

At today's electoral council Abune Matiyas received 500 of the 806 total votes cast. Abune Matiyas is the second ethnically Tigrayan patriarch of the Church of Ethiopia, the large majority of whose members are Amhara or Oromo. His enthronement as the sixth patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church will be celebrated this Sunday with the participation of delegations from sister Orthodox Churches. More here and here.

Ethiopian Orthodox Factions Reportedly Meet in Dallas

It is being reported that a meeting is taking place today in Dallas, Texas, between representatives of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church (EOTC) and the Holy Synod in Exile of the EOTC, founded in the Ethiopian Diaspora by Patriarch Abune Mercurius (Fanta) of Addis Abeba following his removal by the post-Communist Ethiopian government. The two sides are said to be meeting to discuss the possibility of a reconciliation between the two branches of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. More details will be released if and when they become available.

Pictures from Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch's Funeral Posted

Some wonderful pictures from Patriarch Abune Paul of Ethiopia's funeral this past Thursday at Addis Abeba's Holy Trinity Cathedral can be found here. Hierarchs representing the Alexandrian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Malankara Orthodox Syrian, and Syriac Orthodox Churches, including the locum tenens of the Alexandria Patriarchate, were present for the funeral services.

Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch To Be Buried in Addis Abeba

It has been reported that the newly reposed Patriarch Abune Paul (Wolde Yohannes) of Ethiopia will be buried in central Addis Abeba's Cathedral of the Holy Trinity this coming Thursday. Holy Trinity, built under Emperor Haile Silase I after World War II to commemorate the end of the Italian occupation, is the resting place of the last Ethiopian emperor, his wife Empress Menen, and the late Patriarch Abune Tekle Haimanot of thrice blessed memory, and has served as the patriarchal cathedral of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church since its consecration. More here.

In Memoriam: Patriarch Abune Paul of Addis Abeba

Patriarch Abune Paul (Wolde Yohannes) of Addis Abeba has fallen asleep in the Lord at the age of seventy-six. The future patriarch was born Gebre Medhin Wolde Yohannes in 1935 in the well known Ethiopian town of Adwa to a family long associated with Abba Gerima's Monastery near Adwa. As a young boy Gebre Medhin entered the monastery, being trained as a deacon before his tonsure and ordination to the priesthood.

Abba Gebre Medhin went on from Abba Gerima to study theology in Addis Abeba during the patriarchate of Abune Theophilus, who blessed him to continue his theological studies in the United States. Shortly after the revolution that toppled (and later killed) Emperor Haile Silase I Abba Gebre Medhin was recalled to Ethiopia, where he was consecrated to the episcopacy with the name of Paul (P'awlos) and made auxiliary to Abune Theophilus with responsibility for ecumenical affairs.

The emerging Ethiopian Communist regime (the Derg) had not approved the consecration of Abune Paul and the three other men consecrated to the episcopacy that year, and consequently they and the patriarch were imprisoned, where Abune Theophilus reposed and where the new bishops remained until 1983. In that year Abune Paul was released and sent into exile, where he continued his theological studies in the USA. In 1986 the renowned Patriarch Abune Tekle Haimanot elevated Abune Paul to the rank of archbishop.

After the fall of the Derg in 1991 the new Ethiopian government had the Ethiopian Orthodox Holy Synod pressure the ruling patriarch, Abune Mercurius, to retire, after which it elected Abune Paul as Ichege of the Throne of Tekle Haimanot, Archbishop of Axum and Addis Abeba, and Patriarch of Ethiopia. Although the former patriarch later established a schism (the Holy Synod in Exile) in the Ethiopian Diaspora, the vast majority of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church remained united under Abune Paul, who did a great deal of work to expand the Church's outreach and engagement with the modern world and deepen its theological education.

A news release on Patriarch Abune Paul's repose may be found here. May his memory be eternal!

"Remember, O Lord, all our fathers, brothers, and sisters who sleep and rest in the Orthodox Faith, and lay their souls in the bosom of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!" (Anaphora of the Holy Apostles)

Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch Reposes

Patriarch Abune Paul of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church has fallen asleep. May his memory be eternal! More information will be posted as it becomes available.

Abune P'awlos Marks 20 Years as Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch

Patriarch Abune P'awlos of Addis Abeba has celebrated the 20th anniversary of his enthronement as patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church. More here.

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.

Ethiopian Orthodox Church Consecrated in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia's first Ethiopian Orthodox church has been consecrated in the provincial capital, Halifax. Although an Ethiopian Orthodox parish has existed in the city for several years, it wasn't until recently that it acquired its own temple, which was donated by a local parish of the Anglican Church of Canada. More here.

Ethiopian Orthodox Celebrate Emancipation Day in Trinidad

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church of St. Peter in San Fernando, Trinidad, has hosted early celebrations of Trinidad and Tobago's Emancipation Day, organizing a procession in San Fernando with dancing and drumming. Trinidad is home to the Caribbean's oldest Ethiopian Orthodox church, which was established in the 1950s as part of the Addis Abeba Patriarchate's missionary work amongst the island's Rastafarians. More here.

Ethiopian Orthodox Church, IOCC to Provide Aid to Famine Refugee Camps

The Development and Inter-Church Aid Commission of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church is preparing to join efforts to care of the thousands of Somali refugees gathering in camps in Ethiopia as the famine ravaging the eastern regions of the Horn of Africa deepens. In partnership with International Orthodox Christian Charities the Church hopes to help address sanitation issues in the camps and provide healthcare specialists to treat the camps' residents. More here.

Pope Shenouda Confirms Church's Commitment to Dialogue Between Egypt and Ethiopia

Pope Shenouda III (al-Suriani) of Alexandria has met with the newly appointed Egyptian ambassador to Ethiopia and again expressed his hope that the Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches can play a role in bringing about rapproachment between Egypt and Ethiopia over the redistribution of the Nile River's waters to provide for both the countries' water needs. More here.

Coptic, Ethiopian Orthodox Churches Discuss Relations

Pope Shenouda III (al-Suriani) of Alexandria has met with a delegation from the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church to discuss relations between the latter and the Coptic Orthodox Church as well as recent developments in Egyptian and Ethiopian relations generally. More here.

Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches Discuss Nile River Waters

It is being reported that a visit by Pope Shenouda III (al-Suriani) of Alexandria to Ethiopia is being discussed by the Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches. The sister churches have also been discussing the future use of the Nile River's waters following the completion of the Millennium Dam in Ethiopia, saying that they are prepared to assist their respective governments in resolving the issue. More here.

The use of the Nile's waters has been contentious between Egypt and Ethiopia for centuries. Long before the British negotiated the standing treaty governing how much water the countries along the Nile are entitled to the Ethiopian emperors were threatening to cut off the Blue Nile's flow to Egypt should the latter mistreat its Coptic Orthodox majority (now a minority). Egypt's Arab Muslim rulers in their turn would sometimes refuse to allow new metropolitans to be sent to Ethiopia without assurances from its reigning emperors that the Blue Nile's flow would not be interrupted.

What role, if any, the Churches of Egypt and Ethiopia can or will play in this issue today remains to be seen. What is certain is that Egypt's receipt of the lion's share of the Nile's waters is unfair and no longer tenable given the economic and population growth in the countries that actually provide the bulk of the water that feeds the Nile's tributaries.

"Fighting Child Marriage in Ethiopia"

An article on the unfortunately rather widespread practice of child marriage in Ethiopia can be found here.

Ethiopia Moving to Limit International Adoptions?

The Ethiopian government is moving to restrict international adoptions due to complications surrounding the adoptions both within the country and in the countries of the adoptive families. More here. I've been wondering when this would happen for a while now. There has been unease over international adoptions for quite some time due to both abuses of the system and to discomfort amongst Ethiopian Orthodox Christians and Muslims over Ethiopian children being raised in foreign religions in their adoptive countries. In the last couple of years a set of new restrictions were placed on families adopting children from Ethiopia and it now appears that that was just a first step...

In Memoriam: Archbishop Abune Yisihaq of Ale

Archbishop Abune Yisihaq of Ale of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church fell asleep this past Friday. May his memory be eternal! More here.

"Saving Ethiopia's 'Church Forests'"

A wonderful article by T.D. Beeland on northern Ethiopia's surviving woodlands and the role of the Church in their preservation can be found here.

EOTC Commits to Assist Development of Gambela

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church has committed to work together with Ethiopia's Gambela State to promote peace and development in the region. The Chief of State of Gambela, Omod Ubong, welcomed the Church's commitment at the inauguration of a boarding school in Gambela city by Patriarch Abune P'awlos of Addis Abeba.

Gambela's native ethnic groups are closely related to peoples in neighboring Sudan and suffered greatly from the slave trade conducted by both Arab Muslim states in the Sudan and Egypt and by the Orthodox Christian Ethiopian Empire. Taking this into account it is only reasonable that the Church as the last surviving institution of imperial Ethiopia help Gambela's peoples in their ongoing recovery from the effects of decades (possibly centuries?) of slave raids.

More here.

In Memoriam: Archbishop Abune Zena Marqos

Today marks the anniversary of the repose of Archbishop Abune Zena Marqos of Seattle of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church in Exile. May his memory be eternal! More on his life and service to the Church of Ethiopia in both Ethiopia and the Diaspora can be found here.