Synergy for the defense of traditional Christian morality against “the invasion of liberal ideology”. The Ethiopian Orthodox are experiencing an internal schism, a reflection of the civil war in the country. Now they claim the support of the “Russian brother” Kirill, reluctant to engage in disputes with other orthodox jurisdictions.
Moscow () – The Russian Orthodox Church received a delegation from the Non-Chalcedonian Orthodox Church of Ethiopia in the Patriarchate of Moscow, with which it signed a 12-point memorandum for collaboration at the ecclesial level, highlighting the common defense of traditional Christian morality and “opposition to the invasion of liberal ideology,” according to the secretary for inter-Christian relations, the hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov).
In a joint statement it is stated that, “in the context of what is happening in the world and especially in Ethiopia”, the support expressed by the head of the Russian Church for the Patriarch of Addis Ababa, Abuna Mathias, is extremely important, as all the Christians of Ethiopia, as well as the solidarity that the Russians receive from the Ethiopian Church “when at the international level there is an attempt to discriminate against them”. Special reference is made to the recent outbreaks of violence in one of the regions of Ethiopia against the representatives of the Church, with occupation of churches and victims in the local clergy.
Igumnov informed that the memorandum also includes academic collaboration, student exchange, comparison of experiences of charitable and pastoral activity with young people, work in diaspora areas and several other common projects, also in the field of communication. In this way, “believers will be able to better understand the historical and spiritual heritage of both, organize common pilgrimages and other dimensions of dialogue between Christians.”
The Ethiopian Church is considered the third largest in the world by number of faithful, after the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, with 60 million believers. Most of them live in Ethiopia, but the diaspora extends to North America, Europe and other African countries. It is a very old Church, dating back to the Axum empire and founded by the apostolic deacon Philip. He assumed Christianity as a state religion in the fourth century, like the Armenian Church and that of Rome.
The Patriarchate of Moscow has long offered its support to the Ethiopian Orthodox in the conflict with the separatist sectors of their Church, and lately this support has been greatly intensified thanks to the efforts of the Russian exarch for Africa, Leonid (Gorbachev), which was appointed after the break in relations with the Greek Patriarchate of Alexandria, in Egypt.
The schism within Ethiopians stems from uprisings in the Tigray region, which were barely put down, and later also in the Oromia region, where local priests formed an alternative Synod in support of “the nation and the Oromo people”. Unlike the Tigriyos, who are on the periphery, the Oromo occupy the central area of the country, a considerable part of the entire surface.
The warring factions in Ethiopia correspond to different ethnic groups, which is also reflected in the life of the church with the use of different liturgical languages, as claimed by the separatists. The Ethiopian government does not support the intransigence of the patriarchal Church, which has no intention of granting any form of regional autonomy; Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali has proposed avoiding ultimatums and seeking an agreement between the parties.
Ethiopia is a very fragile federation and could disintegrate due to the various separatist uprisings, but the Church also opposes it with public demonstrations by the faithful, quite violently repressed by the police. Now Patriarch Mathias can claim the support of his “Russian brother” Kirill, who is also unwilling to engage in disputes with other Orthodox jurisdictions and ethnic minorities, not even Ukraine or Constantinople.
