Ethiopian Church responds to pandemic

(OCP) - The standing Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has announced that due to the spread of the Coronavirus, all the faithful and most clergy shall limit their worship to their homes and that a bare minimum of the clergy should conduct services in their churches without the presence of a congregation.

These clergies, who will remain in the churches conducting prayers, should not leave the premises of the church, and their sustenance should be provided so that they do not need to leave. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church also has decreed that it’s Theological Colleges, Seminaries, and parochial schools all be converted to the care of victims of the virus and asks the responsible health authorities take them over to undertake appropriate conversions of the facilities.

The Patriarchate also will donate 3 million Birr towards the emergency fund set up by the government to combat the COVID-19 virus. The Standing Holy Synod has also asked His Holiness Abune Mathias I, Patriarch of Ethiopia, Archbishop of Axum, and Echege of the See of St. Tekle Haimanot to suspend his civic duties and enter a period of seclusion to pray for deliverance from this pestilence.