By Etenesh Abera
Addis Abeba, May 10/2021 – Government media quoted the General Secretary of the Ethiopian Orthodox Twahdo Church Holy Synod and Archbishop of Sidama and Gedeo Dioceses, His Holiness Abune Yoseph, as saying that the remarks made by His Holiness Abune Mathias I, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC), were that of His Holiness’ and were not approved by the Holy Synod, the highest assembly of the Church
#Ethiopia: Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarch says war in #Tigray “barbarism” & “attempt to erase Tigrayans from the face of the earth. He also said his repeated pleas are censored –https://t.co/wr4ghiGiho “For 6 months our mouth were sealed, unable to speak for fear and influence.” Addis Standard (@addisstandard) May 8, 2021
May 10, 2021 Share
The head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in his first public comments on the war in the country’s Tigray region is sharply criticizing Ethiopia’s actions, saying he believes it is genocide: “They want to destroy the people of Tigray.”
In a video shot last month on a mobile phone and carried out of Ethiopia, the elderly Patriarch Abune Mathias addresses the church’s scores of millions of followers and the international community, saying his previous attempts to speak out were blocked. He is ethnic Tigrayan.
The video comes as the conflict in Tigray marks six months. Thousands of people have been killed in the fighting between Ethiopian and allied forces and Tigray ones, the result of a political struggle that turned deadly in November. Dozens of witnesses have told the AP that civilians are targeted.
Image: Mulugeta Ayene / AP
Abune Mathias, the sixth patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, during the 2020 Good Friday service at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in his first public comments on the war in his country’s Tigray region is sharply criticizing Ethiopia’s federal government, saying he believes its actions constitute genocide: “They want to destroy the people of Tigray.”
The United States ambassador hosted him today to learn more.
In a video shot last month on a mobile phone and carried out of Ethiopia, the elderly Patriarch Abune Mathias addresses the church’s scores of millions of followers and the international community, saying his previous attempts to speak out were blocked. He is ethnic Tigrayan.