Eritreans join Standing body of Oriental Orthodox in America

Cedar Grove, NJ (SCOOCH) – This Thursday, April 11, the Standing Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches in America welcomed its newest member jurisdiction, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Archdiocese of North America.

H.E. Archbishop Khajag Barsamian (Armenian), H.E. Archbishop Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim (Syriac), H.E. Archbishop Vicken Aykazian (Armenian), H.E. Mor Titus Yeldho (Malankara-Syriac), and representatives of H.G. Bishop David (Coptic) and H.E. Abune Zekarias (Ethiopian) were on hand at the Coptic Center in Cedar Grove, NJ to welcome an Eritrean Orthodox delegation consisting of H.G. Abune Makarios, Fr. Ghebre-Michael Yohannes, Fr. Athanasius Ghebre-Ab, and Ato Belai Teferi into the organization.

In addition to this historic event, the members of the Standing Conference also discussed the launch of the organization’s official website (scooch.org), the charitable endeavors of the organization, future concelebrations of the liturgy, inter-church relations with external ecclesiastical bodies and an impending youth conference scheduled for June of 2013.

With the inclusion of an official Eritrean Orthodox delegation, the Standing Conference now counts within its ranks representatives of every canonical Oriental Orthodox Church in the world.