Ethiopia, often described as the land of Judeo-Christianity, stands as one of the most ancient predominantly Christian countries globally, marked by a fascinating history, unique civilization, culture, and religious life.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC), whose name Tewahedo (Ge'ez: ተዋሕዶ täwaḥədo) is a Geʽez word meaning "united as one," is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. This term refers to the Oriental Orthodox belief in Miaphysitism, the belief in the one composite unified nature of Christ.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church exists in the Sudan and Djibouti, in Jerusalem, Europe, and North and South America.
Ancient Roots and Biblical References
The Book of Genesis alludes to Ethiopia, recounting: “And the name of the second river is Ghion: the same is it that compasses the whole land of Ethiopia” (Genesis 2:13). The Psalmist David also says: “Let Ethiopia hasten to stretch out her hands to God” (Psalms 68:31).
Furthermore, historical and archaeological evidence reveals that Ethiopia is the only African country to have developed its own alphabets and written language.
Read also: Cultural Wedding Celebration
This great land and its people were known by the ancient Greek poets and historians such as Homer, who referred to them as, “Blameless Race.” Herodotus also indicated the country’s landscape as the area south of Egypt and around the Red Sea extending as far as the Indian Ocean. He said that the Ethiopians “lived a long life” and characterized them as “the most just men.”
The Queen of Sheba and the Ark of the Covenant
The Old Testament tells the pilgrimage of the Queen of Sheba to Jerusalem to visit King Solomon (1Kgs. 10:1-13). Ethiopic tradition maintains that the relationship that followed paved the way for the introduction of Old Testament to the country.
Menilik I, Queen of Sheba’s son from King Solomon, made possible the coming of the Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia. Since then, Judaic belief and practice became the norm for the daily life of its people.
The Kingdom of Aksum and the Dawn of Christianity
Ethiopia is well known as the Kingdom of Aksum, established by Emperor Menilik I. Historical documents trace the beginning of an independent Ethiopian monarchy as far back as 4522 B.C. At present, in Aksum, the ancient capital and birthplace of Ethiopian civilization and Christianity, antiquity is still present along with its standing obelisk and other artistic features.
The beginning of Ethiopian Christianity could possibly be traced to the apostolic era. The Book of Acts gives the account of the Ethiopian Eunuch of Queen Candace, who was first evangelized and then baptized by the apostle Philip (Acts 8:26-36).
Read also: History of Virgin Mary Cathedral
Eusebius, the great Church historian, refers to the Ethiopian Eunuch as “the first fruit of Christianity in the whole world.” In addition, Rufinus followed by Theodret, Socrates, and Sozomen also recorded this remarkable event.
Nevertheless, it was not until the 4th century that Christianity became the official religion of the Aksumite Empire. This period also saw the inauguration of the Bishopric See and administration of the sacraments.
This is because St. Athanasius of Alexandria consecrated St. Frementius as the first Bishop of Ethiopia during the reign of Emperors Ezana and Syzana (also called Abraha and Atsbaha). King Ezana removed from his coins the sign of the moon and replaced it with the sign of the cross. By doing so, he became “the first sovereign in the world to engrave the sign of the cross on coins.”
St. Frementius came to be known by the Ethiopians as Abba Selama, which means, “the Father of Peace” and Kesate Berhan meaning, “the Revealer of Light”. Moreover, as the first bishop of Ethiopia, he was given the title Abune, meaning “our father,” as an appellation carried henceforth by all primates of Ethiopia.
Doctrinal Foundations and Key Beliefs
The doctrinal teaching of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is firmly grounded in the five pillars of mystery:
Read also: A History of Bisrate Gebriel
- Mystery of the Holy Trinity
- Mystery of Incarnation
- Mystery of Baptism
- Mystery of Holy Communion
- Mystery of Resurrection
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church accepted the three Ecumenical Councils Nicaea (A.D. 325), Constantinople (A.D. 381), and Ephesus (A.D. 431). Therefore, the Nicene-Constantinople creed has become the symbol of our faith.
The Nicene-Constantinople Creed
We believe in one God, the Lord, the Father Almighty, maker of the heavens and the earth and of all things visible and invisible. We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of the Father, who was with him before the creation of the world: Light of Light, true God from true God, begotten not made, equal with the Father in his Godhead: By whom all things were made, but without him was not anything made, neither in heaven nor on earth; who for us human-beings and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and Mary, of the holy Virgin Mary. He was made man and was crucified for us in the days of Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day as it is written in the Holy Scriptures. He ascended with glory into heaven, sat at the right hand of his Father, and will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father, we worship and glorify him with the Father and the Son; who spoke by the prophets; and we believe in one holy, universal, apostolic Church. We believe in one baptism for the remission of sin; and await the resurrection of the dead and the life to come, world without end. Amen.
Mystery of the Holy Trinity: The Mystery of the Holy Trinity is the belief in the Triune God and is the core of Christian faith. “There are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one" (1 John 5:7).
Mystery of the Incarnation: The Mystery of the Incarnation is the saving entrance of God into human history. Thus, the Creedal confession reads, “For us men and for our salvation the Word of God came down from heaven, and by the power of the Holy Spirit became incarnate of the Virgin Mary and was made man.”
Mystery of the Baptism: The mystery of baptism is the main entrance into the Church and participation in its sacramental grace. It is called mystery because we receive the invisible grace of spiritual adoption through the visible performances of the sacrament. “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark 16:16; John 19:34-35; Acts 2:38)
Mystery of the Holy Communion: Christ instituted the sacrament of Holy Communion during the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday. Our Lord Jesus Christ commands the disciples to remember His sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection in their Eucharistic celebration.
Mystery of the Resurrection: The Mystery of the Resurrection is the mystery of the eternal life in the world to come after our bodily resurrection from dead. This happens at the glorious Second Coming of Christ.
Monasticism and the Golden Age
The life of the Ethiopian Church was further strengthened by the coming of the Nine Saints, who came from the Byzantine Empire (479 A.D.). They translated various sacred texts from Greek and Syriac into Ge`ez, spread the Gospel and introduced monastic life.
The Ethiopian Church entered a new era during the 6th century, which is marked with the rise of St. Yared, the founder of the Ethiopic Hymnody. The time between the 4th and the 7th century A.D. was a time when remarkable religious activities were undertaken.
Monasticism began to flourish in Ethiopia after Christianity became the official religion of the country. The Ethiopic monastic tradition is introduced from the order of St. Anthony in Egypt upon the arrival of the Nine Saints in A.D 480. Thus, Ethiopian ecclesiastical history regards the 4th-6th centuries as the Golden Age. This period was characterized by great evangelical and literary activities.
Just as the monasteries in Europe helped preserve the Western cultural tradition during the Middle Ages, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and its monasteries became the center for the development of Ethiopian art, hymnody, literature and architecture. In the sixth century, St. Yared, the renowned scholar founded the scripture-based liturgical hymnody of the Ethiopian Church.
Challenges and Persecutions
The church has suffered greatly from various religious persecutions down the centuries. The reign of Queen Yodit in the 9th century lasted for forty years and caused great damage to the life of the church. The invasion of Mohammed the Left-Handed in the 16th century was even more destructive. Again during the 17th century, the church suffered persecution at the hands of the Jesuit Alphonzo Mendez and his followers.
During the fierce five-year struggle against the invasion of Mussolini from 1935 to 1940, several bishops, many priests, and thousands of faithful lost their lives.
Autocephaly and Modern Developments
Since 1950 the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has been autocephalous. The church has 81 canonical books and 14 anaphoras. The language of the divine service is Geez, the ancient language of Ethiopia. Today, however, portions of the liturgy are also rendered in Amharic.
The supreme authority in matters of church administration and justice - legislative, administrative and judicial - belongs to the holy synod which meets twice a year, under the chairmanship of His Holiness the Patriarch. The diocesan archbishop is the chairman of the diocesan parish council.
The national parish council meets once a year in the patriarchate, also under the chairmanship of the patriarch. The church has two kinds of clergy: the regular priests, who administer the sacraments, and the learned lay clerks, who are entrusted with the chant of the church offices and teaching in the schools. There are six clergy training centers and one theological seminary.
The current administrative structure has been most conducive for both the clergy and the laity to meet the vital needs of the whole human being and to work together for the development of the church, both spiritually and socially, through the respective parish councils.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has had monasteries in Jerusalem for more than 1,500 years. The connection of Ethiopia to Jerusalem dates back to 1,000 B.C. when Queen Sheba visited King Solomon. The baptism of the Ethiopian official at Gaza by the Apostle Philip took place in 34 A.D. (Acts 8:26-40). In addition to these landmark events the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has maintained a place of worship in Jerusalem.
At various times historians, travelers, and rulers of Jerusalem affirmed the presence of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in that great city of God. In the 19th Century the Church expanded its possessions when the Christian Ethiopian Emperor Yohannes IV began the construction of Debre Genet monastery, which was later, completed during the reign of Emperor Menelik II. Since then, increasing number of churches, chapels, convents and the acquisition of church properties evidences the prominence of Ethiopia in Jerusalem.
In the middle of the 20th century the Ethiopian-Jerusalem Organization was established in Addis Ababa to coordinate the annual Easter, Christmas, and Epiphany pilgrimages to Jerusalem. Now the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church faithful in the Diaspora also join this annual pilgrimage.
Global Expansion and the Diaspora
The 1970s saw a dramatic increase in the number of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Churches in the Diaspora following the arrival of large numbers of Ethiopian immigrants in North America, Europe, Australia, Eastern and Southern Africa.
In particular, the spread of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Churches in North America was facilitated under the leadership of His Grace Abune Yesehaq, who was the Archbishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in the Western Hemisphere at the time.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Toronto was established in 1972 in collaboration with members of the Caribbean (mainly Jamaican) community in Toronto. The congregation remained as a Mission until 1984, lacking a priest and a permanent place of worship. In the same year, Rev. L.K. Messale Engeda came as a priest in charge of the newly established and growing congregation in the Greater Toronto Area.
In 1986, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Toronto, with its 500 registered members, acquired a modest premise...
In 1959, Abuna Theophilus, the Archbishop of Harar Province in Ethiopia, established the Western Hemisphere branch in New York, Jamaica, and Guyana. In 1990, a congregation was established in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and brought into the diocese.
The Holy Trinity EOC Bronx assembly served as the headquarters of the Western Hemisphere and South Africa Archdiocese.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOC) in the Western Hemisphere and Southern Africa records (1939-1998) consist primarily of correspondence but also contain minutes; addresses and speeches by clergy; printed matter; some ephemera; a notebook of members' information (1970); and financial statements and documents (1956-1984).
A significant portion of the correspondence (1993-1997) relates to tensions within the EOC generated by the installation of Abuna Paulos, an archbishop elected by the Holy Synod in Addis Ababa to replace Abuna Yesehaq, the Archbishop of the EOC in the Western Hemishphere and Southern Africa, and the Bronx EOC's legal challenge of Paulos's authority over the congregation and its property.
The correspondence also records inquiries from persons interested in the liturgy of the EOC; general news of the EOC in Ethiopia, the United States and Caribbean; and needs of the EOC in South Africa.
Recent Developments and Challenges
On 25 July 2018, delegates from the Patriarchate in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and those in the United States declared reunification in Washington, D.C.
On 7 May 2021, a group of Tigrayan priests and bishops announced the secession of the regional clergy from the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) to establish the Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church (TOTC).
On 22 January 2023, an attempt to overthrow Abune Mathias failed following a secret formation of a new 26-made bishop Synod led by Abune Sawiros in the Oromia Region diocese.
After not apologizing for the illegal ordination, three Archbishops were excommunicated by the Holy Synod on 26 January.
On 31 January 2023, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed convened a discussion surrounding the incident where he responded that he was ready to resolve the conflict.
On 4 February, three people were reportedly killed in Shashemene by the Oromia Special Forces. According to Tewahedo Media Center (TMC), two Orthodox youth were killed and four others were injured by the Oromo Special Forces.
Faith and Practice
The faith and practice of Orthodox Ethiopian Christians include elements from Miaphysite Christianity as it has developed in Ethiopia over the centuries. Christian beliefs include belief in God (in Geʽez / Amharic, ′Egziabeher, lit. "Lord of the Universe"), veneration of the Virgin Mary, the angels, and the saints, besides others.
