The Ethiopian Orthodox Church calls off Sunday’s demonstration in the capital against the rebel synod

11 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church has postponed until further notice, the great national protest called for next Sunday in the framework of a serious episode of tension after the recent declaration of a schism that, they denounce, would have had tacit support of the prime minister of the country.

“The decision was made after an agreement was reached with the Government, which accepted the church’s demands, and has promised to put them into practice,” he announced in a statement collected by the ‘Addis Standard’ after a meeting between the Orthodox patriarch, Abuna Mathias and the head of the Government, Abiy Ahmed, last Friday, in which the religious asked for the support of the authorities against this new rebel branch.

The tension began on January 22, when three Orthodox bishops declared the creation of the so-called Holy Synod of Oromia, Nations and Nationalities, initially made up of 25 episcopates. All of them were excommunicated in a sudden three days later by the main Tewahedo branch, followed by some 50 million faithful throughout the country.

Behind the split is Archbishop Abune Sawiros, who explained his decision to disassociate himself from the Tewahedo Church, considering that its leaders had done nothing to offer religious services in tribal languages, which had led to the loss of millions of faithful during recent years in Oromia and the South region.

The Ethiopian prime minister initially tried to distance himself from the crisis, which he described as an internal matter, and asked the leaders of both branches to resolve their differences. These comments sparked the ire of the Tewahedo synod, which accused the president, an Oromo and Protestant, of distorting the crisis by describing it as a personal conflict.

“We find it particularly disturbing that the prime minister hinted that this synod is opposed to mass in the Oromo language, something that is very far from the truth,” according to a letter sent earlier this month by the Tewahedo church and signed by the patriarch.