Ethiopia elects Patriarch of Orthodox Church

admin | 01 March 2013

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has elected a new patriarch to replace the previous head who died in August, officials said Thursday.

“Abune Matthias… arch-bishop of Jerusalem (for the Ethiopian church) was elected with a majority,” said Daniel Sefermikael, a church official.

Abune Mathias, the newly elected Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church.

He said Matthias got about 500 out of 806 votes cast by members of the church living in Ethiopia and elsewhere.

Matthias, 71, has lived abroad for over 30 years, initially fleeing Ethiopia following a military coup by Hailemariam Mengistu in 1974.

He has since travelled throughout Europe and North America, and will now settle in Ethiopia to serve as patriarch.

About 63 percent of Ethiopia’s 83 million people are Christian, with the majority following the Orthodox faith, according to official figures.

Matthias will be sworn in at an official ceremony in Addis Ababa on Sunday, which tens of thousands of people are expected to attend.

The office of the patriarch has been vacant since August after Abune Paulos died of an undisclosed illness. He had served as head of the Orthodox Church in Ethiopia since 1992.

Ethiopian patriarchs are referred to as Abune, which means “our father” in Ethiopia’s local language.

Ethiopia is home to some of Africa’s oldest Orthodox churches, including a cluster of 11 ancient rock-hewn churches in Lalibela which are designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Source: Global Post

Since you are here…

…we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong.

Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable.

For example, 5 euros a month is it a lot or little? A cup of coffee? It is not that much for a family budget, but it is a significant amount for Pravmir.

If everyone reading Pravmir could donate 5 euros a month, they would contribute greatly to our ability to spread the word of Christ, Orthodoxy, life's purpose, family and society.

Related articles
Delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church…

On 1-4 March 2018, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All…

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill congratulates new…

March 12, 2013 His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia congratulated Patriarch-Catholicos of Ethiopia,…