Church divded by the help of Government

 

 

The Synod of Ethiopia’s Orthodox Tewahdo Church, the largest religious denomination in the country, has announced the revoking of spiritual titles of 28 breakaway clergy who were involved in the appointment of new so-called bishops without its knowledge.

The suspension includes three archbishops who had a leading role in designating new "bishops" in a small town situated in Oromia region, 110 km (68 miles) away from the capital Addis Ababa which is the seat of the Synod.

As a result they are prohibited from using their religious titles and any of the church’s resources.

The Synod, which is the highest decision-making body of the church, announced the decision on Thursday after holding an emergency meeting.

On Wednesday one of the breakaway bishops appointed was said to have apologised for his involvement and reversed his course.

The breakaway group has not commented on the decision yet but it earlier threatened to elect its own patriarch and run as a separate entity if the synod failed to endorse the appointments.

This is seen as a major challenge for the church after the renegade archbishops accused the synod of lacking diversity.

The Ethiopian Orthodox church says it is expanding religious facilities and services aimed at reaching its followers in multiple languages. It also denounced the move as an attack on the church’s unity.

Some of the faithful see the latest controversies as a reflection of the country’s widening ethnic rifts, while other say there are political actors involved in the move.

Ethiopia has five different major languages - Afar, Amharic, Oromo, Somali and Tigrinya.

dozens Orthodox christians killed by Ethiopian government

 

Dozens dead over Ethiopia church schism - BBC reports

More than 30 followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church have been killed over the last several days by security forces in the Oromia region amidst tension sparked by a breakaway faction, the privately owned Borkena news site reports.

 

The circumstances of the trouble are unclear, but local news site Addis Standard, quoting the police, reports that 19 people were killed during a confrontation with security forces.The church's leadership had called on followers to dress in black and observe three days of fasting and prayers after three archbishops in Oromia region dissented and announced the formation of a "new holy synod".

This new synod went ahead and anointed 26 bishops in Oromia.

More than 20 priests and those supporting the position of the main church were arrested in Oromia region's Arsi Negele Zone, privately owned Addis Maleda online TV reported on Monday.

The main church has sued the Oromia regional government, the federal and Oromia police commissions to stop the setting up of a separate holy synod.

A federal court is expected to make a ruling on Wednesday over the matter.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has also accused the government of "meddling" in its internal affairs after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed instructed his cabinet ministers to keep out of the matter, saying the church should solve the problem through its internal mechanisms.

The church had wanted the government to take its side.

There is anxiety about the future of one of the world's oldest churches, as both the holy synod and the breakaway group have called for separate rallies in the capital, Addis Ababa, next Sunday.