A key meeting of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) synod opened on Wednesday. Abune Mathias, the Patriarch, in his inaugural speech warned about internal challenges faced by the church.
“Love for appointment and materialism has reigned,” said Abune Mathias.
In this speech delivered at this bi-annual Holy Synod Plenary Session, the Patriarch admitted “love for appointment (position) and materialism (wealth)” have reigned within the ancient Church.
He implied there are internal divisions in the church. “The suffering of the Church is not only from the outside but also from the inside; not only from aliens but also from friends,” the Patriarch said.
Even if the external challenges the Church is confronted with were inevitable, “more than that, the challenges arising from within” have hindered the Church from carrying out its mission properly, the Patriarch said.
He implored the Holy Synod members that when there are problems, it is essential to address them with “wisdom and the law”, rather than blaming a certain party alone. The preferred solution should therefore be “to evaluate, discuss and consult with a purpose of unity and peace” and to work by centering law and order as a key pillar.
The EOTC has been facing internal challenges mainly from two regions. A separate independent religious structure “Menbere Selama” has been established in the Tigray region. The Tigray archbishops are making key appointments without approval from the main church. They accuse some church elders of blessing the war on Tigray which caused hundreds of thousands of deaths.
In February 2023, a splinter group led by three archbishops emerged in the Oromia region. The trio of archbishops accused the main church of neglecting Oromo people and Affan Oromo. Back then the church accused the Ethiopian federal government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of backing the splinter group. EOTC called for country wide protests. Realizing the gravity of the situation, the Ethiopian federal government backed down and mediated an agreement between the splinter group and the main church.
Ethiopian government and some EOTC leaders are not on good terms. This year, the government blocked the return of EOTC Synod Secretary General. Abune Petros, the Secretary, was deported from Bole Airport in Addis Ababa.
Last year in December, Abune Lukas, an EOTC archbishop based in the US, called for the assassination of the PM Abiy Ahmed. A trial at an Ethiopian court against the archbishop is in progress.
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