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.
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