Ethiopia: #newsalert - Orthodox Synod Says Tigary Religious Leaders' Plan to Appoint Bishops 'Violates' Church Articles, 'Inappropriate' and 'Harms Unity of Church'

13 July 2023
Addis Standard (Addis Ababa)

Addis Abeba — In a statement released after and emergency plenary session held yesterday on the election of bishops to be held in Tigray region, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church's (EOTC) Holy Synod said the planned appointment of bishops "violates articles 37 and 38 of the church's constitution, is inappropriate from the point of view of the church's canon, which violates the central administration of the church and harms its unity."

Tigray Orthodox religious leaders announced yesterday their intentions to adhere to the planned nomination of bishops for dioceses organized under the newly established See of Selama Kessate Berhan Archdiocese of the Tigray Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which is scheduled to take place on 16 July.

In a letter addressed to the media calling for the coverage of the nomination event, the head office of the See of Selama Kessate Berhan Archdiocese said 10 episcopates are due to be appointed in the holy city of Aksum, marking another major turn in the widening schism within the ancient Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church.

This came in the backdrop of the return of a delegation of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) led by His Holiness Abune Mathias I, the patriarch, from Mekelle to Addis Abeba on Tuesday without securing a face-to-face meeting with the leaders of the See of Selama Kessate Berhan Archdiocese in Tigray.

In its statement today, the Holy Synod has called on the federal and Tigray regional governments "to help solve problems through dialogue and to facilitate a forum for dialogue."

AS

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