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Crisis in Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church

OCPFebruary 7, 2023 7:23 pm

<https://ocpsociety.org/crisis-in-ethiopian-orthodox-tewahedo-church/>

Deacon Solomon Kibriye and Archdeacon Tesfa Mikael Williams (Ethiopian
Affairs) – OCP News Service – 07/02/2023

Ethiopia: On Sunday, January 22, 2023, in a small rural church of the
Nativity of Christ outside the town of Woliso, three Archbishops of
the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, without authority from the
Holy Synod, and without the presence of His Holiness Patriarch Abune
Mathias I, uncanonically consecrated 26 monks as “bishops” and
proclaimed a new and separate “Orthodox Synod” for the Oromia regional state and other areas of Ethiopia’s south along ethnic lines. The
reaction across Ethiopian society was one of shock, as the ethnicism
which has led to division and war in recent years had thus far eluded
the houses of worship. The renegade group threatened that they would
name their own Patriarch, and demanded a division of church properties
unless the Holy Synod agreed to negotiate and recognize the newly
consecrated “bishops”. His Holiness the Patriarch summoned the entire
Holy Synod into emergency session and on Thursday the 26th of January,
the Holy Synod pronounced an ex-communication against the three former Archbishops, and 25 of the so-called “bishops” they had named. All of
them were defrocked, stripped all their church ranks and episcopal
names, and reduced to the rank of “Mr.” One of the 26 newly
consecrated “bishops”, Abba Tsegazeab Adugna, repented and came to the Patriarchate to apologize in person. He was forgiven and not included
on the list of excommunicated and defrocked ex-clerics.

The renegade group then issued a defiant and false statement that the
people of the Oromia region were prevented from receiving services in
the Orthodox Church and instruction from their clergy in their native
language. The Holy Bible was translated into the Oromo language in
the 1870s. Since the early 1990s, the Holy Liturgy has been
translated into the Oromo language and is widely celebrated in that
language in addition to several other languages of Ethiopia across the
various regions. More theological colleges and seminaries have been established to teach in the Oromo language than in Amharic or
Tigrigna. Several Oromo Archbishops serve on the Holy Synod and
indeed have served in leadership positions of the Patriarchate
Administration and the Holy Synod Secretariate. The renegade group
tried to justify their un-canonical consecration by falsely alleging
that Emperor Haile Selassie I had unilaterally broken ties with the
Coptic Orthodox Church and created the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Synod by naming his own bishops. This of course was patently false, as
the Coptic Orthodox Church granted the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church autocephalous status in 1948, and the rank of Patriarch to its
primate in 1959, after many years of negotiation and agreements that
maintained apostolic succession and adhered to canon law. The
renegade group also declared that unless the Holy Synod accepted their
new “bishops”, they would elect their own Patriarch. They then
proceeded to issue “ex-communications” of some of the senior members
of the Holy Synod and demanded a division of property.

There was alarm in church circles from the beginning of the crisis
over the government’s attitude towards the renegades. The police
guards of the Patriarchate in Addis Ababa were removed, and the
renegade bishops were reported to be under security forces protection
in a hotel in Addis Ababa. It was also noted that a prominent
Evangelical Protestant pastor with close ties to the Prime Minister
had, just days before the un-canonical consecration, said that he had experienced a vision of Christ in which the Lord promised him that He
was about to split the Orthodox Church in two and destroy her “false teachings”. It was widely suspected that not only did he have
foreknowledge of what was to take place, but that the government was supportive. On January 28th, several Archbishops were scheduled to be
in the city of Jimma to dedicate the new Cathedral of St. Mary there,
on the eve of the Feast of the Dormition of Our Lady. They were
informed by Oromia regional authorities that they were not welcome in
Jimma. To make matters worse, the Archbishop of Jimma, Abune
Estifanos, was detained by police and then expelled from the city and
sent to Addis Ababa. Angry parishioners refuse to allow the new
church to be dedicated without the presence of the canonical bishop
and there were protests throughout the Feast of the Dormition.
Subsequently, Archbishop Abune Yared was expelled from his diocese of
Eastern Arsi. The following week, the renegade “bishops” escorted by
armed Oromia regional security forces, forcibly took over various
churches, monasteries, and diocesan offices in parts of the region. An
unknown number of faithful, clergy, and lay staff have been jailed and interrogated, and others threatened. The monk who had repented and
left the renegade group was seized at the gates of the Patriarchate
and taken for questioning by security forces in Addis Ababa for some
hours before being freed. The perception that the government was
heavily involved in this attempt to split the Orthodox Church was
taking firm hold.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed on January 28 held a half-hour
televised seminar that was given to members of his cabinet in which he unequivocally stated his recognition of the renegades, saying that
“both sides have truths, both sides are our fathers” and pushed for
the Holy Synod to negotiate with the renegades. He seemingly violated
the constitution under which he serves by saying that the Church
“could not refuse demands that instruction be given in native
languages”. He also expressed wonderment at why the Church would excommunicate the Oromo clerics when they failed to excommunicate the
Tigrean Archbishops during the Tigrean war. While it is false that the
Church has denied instruction in native languages, what was even more
shocking than this false claim was that the Prime Minister was
violating the separation of Church and state by telling the Synod what
to do, and attempting to coerce it into dealing with a group of
defrocked and excommunicated persons who had expressed no regret. The
Prime Minister then boasted that, since the fall of the monarchy, no
government had done more for the Orthodox Church than his. He reminded
his audience of his role in ending the 28-year schism of the Church
after which two Patriarchs had governed the Church, and also his
return of two buildings seized form the Church by the Derg regime in
1974. He also claimed that in Addis Ababa, the government had granted
land to the Orthodox Church three times more than the grants given to
all other faiths combined. He ended with a demand that none of his
ministers involve themselves in church matters, which was seen as a
veiled threat against Orthodox officials that might attempt to find a
way out of the confrontation.

The Holy Synod immediately issued a terse response to the Prime
Minister’s statement, line by line. They decried his taking the side
of a renegade group and the government’s failure to protect the church
from being invaded and occupied by them. They also decried his open endorsement of the false claims by the renegades. The Church also
acknowledged his role in ending the schism, but denied his claim that
two Patriarchs had run the Church. His late Holiness Abune Merkorios I
had returned to Ethiopia with his patriarchal dignity and had presided
over the Church in prayer, but that the governing of the Church was
held by Patriarch Abune Mathias I, who remains to this day as the
canonical Patriarch. The Synod also noted that, in the case of the
two buildings, return of illegally seized property should not be
regarded as a government grant. They also dismissed the claims that
the government had granted the Church three times the amount of land
than all other faiths in Addis Ababa. The government was dishonestly
including the re-confirmation of old title deeds to existing churches
and other properties that the Church had held for decades as new
“grants of land”. The Church also decried the government’s attempt to coerce it into dealing with people it had defrocked and
excommunicated. As to the Prime Minister’s point about the
ex-communication of the Oromo clerics but failing to excommunicate the
Tigrean Archbishops, the Holy Synod statement noted that the
Archbishops of Tigray had done nothing that violated canon law, nor
had they named uncanonical bishops, or declared a parallel “synod”.
They had therefore done nothing to warrant ex-communication. The Synod
noted that the government could not insert itself into internal church
matters, but should instead be protecting the institution from
attacks. It had become clear to the Holy Synod that the government was
wholly on the side of the renegades. The Church declared that on the
three days of the Fast of Nineveh (February 6-8) all Ethiopian
Orthodox Tewahedo churches worldwide would hold special Me?ella
Prayers (Prayer of Rogation) and the faithful were instructed to wear
black.

The government’s response has been to dig in further. Almost
immediately people noticed a shortage of black clothes in stores and
there were signs that the government was behind the shortage.
Government offices have posted notices that wearing black to work was
strictly forbidden, and university students have been turned away from
classes for wearing black.

Most horrifically, in the town of Shashemene on February 4th, snipers
opened fire on a large crowd of the faithful who had assembled on the
grounds of St. Michael’s Church there to prevent the renegades from
taking over. An unknown number of people were wounded, and so far the
death toll stands at 23. The Holy Synod has declared that failing an appropriate response by the government to desist from this
persecution, it will call for nationwide protests in which His
Holiness the Patriarch and the entire Holy Synod will participate.
Statements of solidarity have been pouring in, not just from other
Orthodox Churches, but from some Protestant clergy and faithful as
well as members of the Muslim faith who have been outraged by this
intrusion into religious matters.

Source:
OCP News Service <https://ocpsociety.org/crisis-in-ethiopian-orthodox-tewahedo-church/>
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com

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