Patriarch of the Ethiopian Church arrested

(Zegabi) - The patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo Chruch, Abune Mathias, was placed under house arrest temporarily, but has since been released, according to a report by the Ethiopian Review today.

The move is reported to have been carried out by National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister, Tsegaye Behane, allegedly over the patriarch’s criticism of the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Force (EPRDP).

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is currently facing a leadership crises and many church leaders have publicly rebelled against the authority of the church, which only split from the Coptic Orthodox Church in 1959.

Abune Mathias was reportedly interrogated for 72 hours before his release. Although the actual reasons for his temporary arrest is unknown, there are speculations that it relates to comments made by the patriarch recently where he revealed that most of the church’s current problems are being created by the state.

The Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), one half of the ruling EPRDP coalition, is also reported to have been the focus of some of the patriarch’s recent critical comments.

This is not the first time Abune Mathias, who was born in the Tigray region, is clashing with the government.

In the 80′s, when he was Bishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, Abune Mathias was critical of Menghistu Haile Mariam’s regime. His outspokenness eventually caused him to go on exile in the United States of America for about 30 years until the downfall of Meghiatu’s regime.

Abune Mathias, 71, was installed as the 6th patriarch of the Ethiopia Orthodox Church in March 2013 after winning about 500 out of 806 votes cast by an elective council a month earlier. His appointment has since been disputed by many, who say the 4th patriarch Abuna Merkorios should have been reinstated, since he was deposed under questionable circumstances.

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 28, 2014 at 10:21 AM

    Hi,I'd like to share few the point with you.This news is somewhat fishy - there's no other outlet, real or minor, support it up as of right now assuming that you do a Google News look, in addition to Abune Matiyas was chosen by a board sorted out and held IN Ethiopia. He IS Tigrayan. There were dissentions around the time of his race about how blundering the EPRDF government was being in having the committee chose a second Tigrayan (and in succession too) to the patriarchate. So why might he condemn the legislature that permitted (organized?) his race, substantially less get arrested for it? The EPRDF government may not be God-dreading, yet its never been as candidly dangerous to the Church as the Derg was - to do this might estrange numerous individuals from it, even individuals who have underpinned it as of recently.Thank you so much!!
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    Africa Current News

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