MADRID, 11 February (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church has postponed the major national protest, which was supposed to take place next Sunday, amid a period of serious tension following the recent announcement of a split, until further notice. prime minister of the country.
“The decision was made after an agreement was reached with the Government, which accepted the church’s demands and promised to implement them,” said the statement gathered by ‘Addis Standard’ after a meeting with the Orthodox patriarch. Abuna Mathias and the Head of Government, Abiy Ahmed, in a speech last Friday, asked the religious to support the authorities against this new rebel branch.
Tension began on January 22, when three Orthodox bishops declared the establishment of the so-called Holy Synod of Oromia, Nations and Nationalities, which originally consisted of 25 bishops. All were suddenly excommunicated by the main Tewahedo branch three days later, followed by nearly 50 million loyalists across the country.
Announcing his decision to leave the Tewahedo Church behind the split, Archbishop Abune Sawiros explains, considering that its leaders did nothing to provide religious services in tribal languages that have led to the loss of millions of believers in Oromia in recent years. and the Southern region.
The Ethiopian prime minister tried to move away from the crisis, which he described as a domestic issue, and asked the leaders of both branches to resolve their differences. These comments sparked the anger of the Tewahedo council, which accused the president, an Oromo and Protestant, of distorting the crisis by defining it as a personal conflict.
According to a letter sent by the Tewahedo church earlier this month and signed by the patriarch, “We find it particularly disturbing that the Prime Minister has implied that this synod is against the Oromo language liturgy, which is far from the truth.” .
Source: Noti Merica
