Ethiopians Mourn Renowned Missionary Bishop

[Kollyvas]

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Hundreds of Ethiopians mourn Orthodox archbishop’s death

Orthodox priests say a funeral liturgy for Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq Mandefro, head of the Ethiopian church in the Western Hemisphere.

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of Ethiopian immigrants gathered at a Washington, D.C., church Thursday to mourn Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq Mandefro, who spent decades launching congregations throughout the United States and the Caribbean and is credited with leading thousands of Rastafarians — including reggae great Bob Marley — toward Orthodox Christianity.

The elaborate funeral liturgy and memorial service unfolded over nearly 10 hours at Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox congregation that worships in a converted parking garage.

The bishop commonly known as Abuna Yesehaq — Father Isaac in Ethiopia’s Amharic language — died Dec. 29 in Newark at age 72. His body lay in state in New York before being brought to Washington. From here, it will travel to Dallas for another memorial service, then to Jamaica for burial.

Washington Post

[CorpusChristi]

Abba Yesehaq was a great Archbishop and loved many,many people..we could learn alot from the piety of The ethiopians, black Jews a 1000 years before Christ, and then put the Law down and picked up there Cross to follow Christ who came to fulfill the Law..

The introduction of Christianity into Ethiopia took place in the beginning of the first century A.D. 34 just about ten years after the death and resurrection of Christ when St. Philip baptized the Ethiopian Eunuch when he was returning from the Passover feast in Jerusalem as it is narrated in the Acts of the Apostles 8:26-39. The history of Saint Philip

The Eunuch and the Apostle St. Philip
the Apostle baptizing the Ethiopian Eunuch is of great significance. The Eunuch was a man of high rank in Ethiopia, the finance minister of Candace, queen of Ethiopia. Upon his return he preached the doctrine of Christ among his countrymen. He was the first to bring the news, although he was not called an Apostle as he deserved.

Eusebius speaks of him as the first fruit of the faithful in the whole world. Further at that time Saint Mathew the Apostle preached the Gospel to the Ethiopians he won some converts to the new doctrine and then left the country. (Yesehaq, 13)

The Eunuch converted Queen Candace and since then Ethiopia has been ruled and governed by Christians. Western historians and writers state that Ezana who reigned in Ethiopia about A.D. 320-356 was the first African King who became Christian and made Christianity the official religion of his empire. This would make Ethiopia Christendom’s second state after Constantine declared Rome a Christian state, but this is not so.
The declaration of the doctrine of Christ by King Ezana in the fourth century was not done as a new introduction to the people but was done by the Emperor to prove himself as the true Christian leader of the nation and to make Christianity more effective throughout the nation.

Abba Selama – First Bishop of Ethiopia.

The Book of the Contendings of St. Tekle Haimanot and the Fetha Negast state that in the beginning of the fourth century after Christ there came to Ethiopia a certain stranger/pilgrim to Ethiopia from Jerusalem with two young men, Frumentius and Sidrakos. They were welcomed to the home of Anbaram and were received graciously. That same night the pilgrim became ill with fever and after a few days he died. The two young men grew up in the house of Anbaram and learned the Old Testament and the custom and lifestyle of Ethiopia, including the language and traditional music.
Frumentius was impressed by the devotion of the Ethiopian people to their God. One day he said to Anbaram "My Lord, I admire the life and culture of the people. You Ethiopians practice circumcision and confess the Lord Eyesus Kristos, but you do not practice Baptism, neither do you receive communion." Anbaram replied; "Our Father the Levites, brought us circumcision and the finance minister of Queen Candace, the Eunuch, brought us the faith of Christ, yet we do not have an Apostle who can administer the rite of Baptism and the Eucharist. So would you please go to Alexandria and be consecrated for this position?" Frumentius said to him, "I will obey the words, O my Lord." Then Anbaram gave him much gold and silver for his journey and gifts for the patriarch.

Abba Selama
The Eunuch had administered the rite of Baptism and the Eucharist in the beginning of the first century after Christ but this had been discontinued after a while. Thus the people had been left without a Christian Apostle to teach them the New Testament and to administer the Sacrament and were still offering sacrifices to God in accordance to the Law of Orit, the ancient Jewish tradition. Anbaram himself was not baptized. He was simply a priest after the order of the Judaic tradition, yet he saw the salvation of the New Testament.

Frumentius departed and came to Alexandria where he found out that The Patriarch Alexander was in Nicaea. Frumentius continued his journey and arrived at the end of the council. He met with the Patriarch and told him "There is a country which has accepted Christianity without an Apostle." In turn Alexander informed the council and was given responsibility to deal with the matter. Alexander died before he could deal with the issue and was succeeded by Athanasius. Frumentius informed Athanasius about his mission. When the new Patriarch heard the news he greatly rejoiced and immediately consecrated Frumentius and sent him back to Axum, the capital of Ethiopia. As Bishop of the Ethiopian Church Frumentius was called Abba Selama – Father of Peace.

He arrived in Axum in the days of the two brother kings Abreha (Ezana) and
Asbeha (Shaiazana). Frumentius first came to Anbaram and baptized him and ordained a deacon. The following day he ordained him a priest and gave him a new name, Hezbe Kades. He commanded him to "baptize and sanctify men" and gave him authority and permission with the understanding that he would be inferior only to Frumentius and that Anbaram would be titled Bishop. From that time Anbaram was known as bishop under the jurisdiction of Abba Selama.

Upon receiving authority, Anbaram preached the Gospel Of Christ throughout the country and baptized thousands of men and women. The Book of the Saint explains further that the people of Noba (Nubia), Saba (Sabaean), Nagran, (in South Yemen south of Ethiopia), Tigre (north of Ethiopia), Angot, Amhara, Kueta, and Zaba Guedar were baptized by Anbaram.

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        THE ETHIOPIAN TEWAHEDO CHURCH

The Ethiopian Tewahedo* Church is an indigenous and integral church of Africa. It is one of the oldest churches in the world, if not the oldest, and is one of the founders of the World Council of Churches it also has branches in other parts of the world such as Jerusalem, Sudan, the United States Of America, The Virgin Islands of the United States, Canada, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Bermuda, England, Saint Kitts, Djibouti, Kenya, and West Germany. Approximately 75% of the Ethiopian population belongs to the church. The remaining Portion can be divided among other Christian denominations and Muslims and the Falasha.

The church though independent, has maintained her special link with the Egyptian Coptic Church at Alexandria. It adheres strictly to the doctrine that confesses the One Nature of Our Lord Eyesus Kristos and thus refused to conform to the teachings of Pope Leo’s Tome at the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451. Since the controversy at the council, the church has retained its faith, it’s ancient traditions and customs and its way of life.

Makeda; Queen Of Sheba
The worship of the True God was officially introduced during the reign of Makeda.
In the northern part of Ethiopia, a thousand years before Christ, Makeda, the young virgin queen, lived in the Virgin Land (Ethiopia). The capital of her kingdom was Axum. A very powerful queen, she reigned over parts of Southern Arabia in Sabaea (Sheba) and because of this was titled Queen of Axum and Sheba.

Born in Tigre Province, the daughter of very wealthy parents, who were descended from a very powerful race, Makeda had the privilege of an education. She was trained in and acquired a formidable knowledge of natural history, music and astronomy. Her knowledge of the world was vast. One of her most famous achievements was her difficult journey to the land of Israel in search of wisdom and righteousness proving the Wisdom of Solomon. A peculiar woman, she had all her life been interested in questioning the mysteries of life and was versed in the rituals of the Temple. “ When she heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions” (1 Kings 10:1). (Yesehaq, 4)

Makeda Hears of the Wisdom of Solomon
During Makeda’s reign Ethiopia was famous for her vast export/import trade with nations throughout the known world. Ethiopia’s chief exports were gold and silver, which were handled by Ethiopian merchants particularly in the Kingdom of Axum. One the best known merchants was Tamrin, a man of high qualifications who handled the queen's transactions. At that time King Solomon of Jerusalem was building the Temple of God and his navy was navigating the Red Sea coast in search of gold in Ophir and wood for the pillars of the Temple and for his own palace.

Solomon heard about Tamrin and enlisted him along with other merchants, and Tamrin brought to Jerusalem gold, precious stones and Blackwood from Ethiopia. Upon his return to Ethiopia Tamrin gave an account of what he saw to the queen. He reported how he saw the construction of the Temple of the Ark of the Covenant of God and that King Solomon was the “ richest King on earth, who ruled with the wisdom of a sage.” The queen, extremely amazed at Tamrin’s report about King Solomon, decided to take the long strenuous journey to Jerusalem to see King Solomon. (Yesehaq, 5)

Makeda Finds Wisdom and Light
The queen of Sheba traveled more than one thousand miles to seek wisdom by inquiring in the King Solomon’s wisdom. She states in her memoirs “ For I desire wisdom and my heart seeketh to find understanding…. I will seek after wisdom and she shall protect me forever….” Her Journey to Jerusalem was a symbol of great faith and so Our Lord and Saviour Eyesus Kristos spoke of her to the generation that existed during His Time. That generation was described as “an evil and adulterous generation that seeketh after a sign” (Matt. 12:39). They were a generation that would not believe in God unless a sign was shown them. Being therefore angered by their unbelief, Our Lord said; “ The Queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it; for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold a greater than Solomon is here”

King Solomon Greets Queen Makeda
Makeda traveled to Jerusalem making several stops along the way including Sabaea, (Sheba) her subjects the Sabeans greeted her and expressed their love with singing and great homage. It was a grand opportunity for the people to have seen their Monarch for the first time. Upon arrival in Jerusalem thousands who gathered to greet her, having heard of her coming throughout Judah met her. Makeda was received by Azarias, the son of Zadok, the high priest, and by a large company of priest and noblemen. “ They wore robes broidered in gold and belts of gold about their loins, around their necks chains of gold and golden crowns on their heads.”

Upon meeting King Solomon and hearing his wisdom renounced the worship of the Sun and converted to the True God. She stayed in Jerusalem for six months King and Queen fell in love and their union produced a son Menelik I, who was born as she journeyed back to Ethiopia. She states“ …Through wisdom I have dived down into the great sea and have seized in the place of wisdom’s depth, a great pearl whereby I am rich. I went down like the great iron anchor whereby men anchor ships for the night on the high seas, and I received a lamp, which lighteth me, and I came up by the ropes of the boat of understanding. I went to sleep in the depths of the sea, and not being overwhelmed with the water I dreamed a dream. And it seemed to me that there was a star in my womb and I marveled thereat and I laid hold upon it, and it lighted me with the splendor thereof…”.

She made history as a woman responsible for a mass reformation in the history of Ethiopia, where the worship of the True God was officially established in later years when her son Menelik I, visited his father, King Solomon, and returned to Ethiopia, bringing the Ark of the Covenant, accompanied by Azarias, the son of Zadok, the high priest and all the firstborn of the house of Israel. The Falashas of Ethiopia, as well as other natives trace their descent from the people who accompanied Menelik to Ethiopia. (Yesehaq, 7)

The worship of God was then officially established and Makeda abdicated the throne and gave it to her son, Menelik I, who was crowned King of Kings. Thus began in Ethiopia the Solomonian dynasty of kings that lasted to the twentieth century. The Solomonic kingdom in Ethiopia should not be considered as the root of the Ethiopian kingdom but as an additional blessing from God, for the country had been ruled by kings for thousands of years before Menelik I came to the Throne.
The removal of the Ark of the covenant was a truly historic event which is venerated greatly by Ethiopians. Today the Ark of the Covenant of God lies in the St.Mary of Zion Church in the sacred city of Axum, which is the birthplace of the Ethiopian Empire and center for Christian worship.

[Kollyvas]

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The faithful of the Eritrean Orthodox Church Eritrean Government Formally Sacks Orthodox Patriarch

Compass Direct

January 19, 2006

The government-controlled Holy Synod of the Eritrean Orthodox Church last week served formal notice to Abune Antonios that he is no longer the patriarchal head of the nation’s largest religious body.

But Patriarch Antonios immediately rejected the notice. Striking back, Antonios announced that he was excommunicating or suspending those who signed his arbitrary dismissal order.

According to a report posted in the Tigrinya language on the website of the Asmarino Independent News, the synod notified Patriarch Antonios of his official discharge after “a series of hidden and closed-door meetings” held last week.

The secret sessions reportedly involved three Eritrean bishops and Yoftahe Dimetros, a layman installed by the government last August as chief administrator of the church. The three clerics were identified as Bishop Lukas, Bishop Petros and Bishop Marcos, all members of the church’s synod.

Dimetros reportedly forced some if not all the senior clergymen whose names appeared on the document to sign it.

The patriarch openly challenged the decision, declaring that it was a direct violation of Orthodox church canons. Under canon law, a patriarch’s election is considered a lifetime appointment that cannot be revoked. In addition, Dimetros’ takeover of church administration contravenes church statutes, which require that the position be held by an ordained bishop appointed by the patriarch.

Patriarch Antonios promptly excommunicated Dimetros from holding any position within the church and suspended the three bishops from officiating at liturgies or delivering any sermons.

On January 13, Dimetros ordered the confiscation of the patriarch’s car and dismissed his personal chauffeur.

Two days later, Abune Antonios caused a stir in Asmara when he emerged from his home, walking along the street to attend the Sunday prayers and liturgy at St. Mary’s Orthodox Church. Shocked that the elderly, robed cleric was not being driven to church as usual, several passersby stopped their cars to offer him a lift. The 78-year-old patriarch was quickly surrounded by a crowd of Orthodox faithful who escorted him to and from his residence for morning worship.

Since last August, when the Eritrean government stripped Antonios of his ecclesiastical authority and forbid him to administrate the affairs of the church, the patriarch has remained under virtual house arrest at his residence in Asmara.

From Asmara, sources confirmed to Compass today that if the patriarch continues to challenge the government-orchestrated takeover of his church, most people expect him to be arrested soon. Rumor has it that soon afterwards, the government would try to announce its selection of a new patriarch.

Antonios was installed by Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenoudah III as the third patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Church in March 2004.

The new year in Eritrea also saw a member of the Church of the Living God in Asmara arrested from his place of work on January 11. A university graduate teaching at the Mai-Nefhee Training Center in Asmara, Hanibal Tekeste is married with two children.

Tekeste is the fourth member of the charismatic church arrested within the past month. One of the church’s pastors detained just before Christmas later escaped from the security authorities and is now believed to have fled the country.

Since May 2002, Eritrea’s repressive regime has closed down and outlawed all Protestant churches except those that are Lutheran. Since that time, dozens of evangelical Protestant pastors and several thousand of their church members have been arrested and subjected to severe torture and detention in Eritrea for worshipping outside “legal” church buildings, even in their own homes.

The ancient Eritrean Orthodox Church had initially enjoyed relative immunity from government restrictions, along with the recognized Catholic, Lutheran and Muslim faiths. But Patriarch Antonios fell out of favor last year for protesting the jailing of three of his priests and other overt government interference in church affairs.

The Eritrean government issues routine, blanket denials that any religious persecution is occurring within the country, insisting that documented reports from Amnesty International, the U.S. State Department and other sources are “fabricated” and “groundless.”

[CorpusChristi]

The Eritrean is not the Ethiopian Tewahido Orthodox church, eritrean was granted autocephaly and more coptic then anything..and there is a vast amount of difference between the EThiopian and coptic Church`s, for one the Ethiopians still practice Confession near cemetary or grave..

The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church is one of the Oriental Orthodox churches. It was formerly a part of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, its autocephaly being reluctantly recognized by the Ethiopian Patriarchate after Eritrea gained its independence in 1993.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church had been granted autocephaly by the Coptic pope in 1950, but had no say in the autocephaly of its integral Eritrean diocese due to the appeal of the Eritrean government to the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate for Eritrean Orthodox autocephaly. Tensions were - and in some cases remain - high between the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church on the one side and the Coptic Orthodox and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Churches on the other. Nonetheless, the three Churches remain in full communion with one another and with the other Churches of the Oriental Orthodox communion.

HG Bishop Athnateous is Bishop for Eritreans in Europe, and HG Bishop Shenouda is Bishop for Eritreans in the USA. (As of August 2005.)

In August 2005, the Patriarch of Orthodox Tewahdo Church of Eritrea, H.H. Abune Antonios, was forced out of his post, but the truth is he had been assigned a strictly ceremonial role while administration of the church was taken over by a government appointed official.[citation needed] Abune Antonios was elected on 5 March 2004 and enthroned as the third Patriarch of Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Eritrea, on 25 April 2004. It is to be remembered Pope Shenouda III presided at the consecration and enthronement in Asmara, together with the Holy Synod of the Eritrean Orthodox Church and a Coptic Orthodox Delegation that accompanied him.

It has been rumored that the Eritrean government had requested that Pope Shenouda recognize the replacement of Patrarch Antonios, but that the Pope had refused to do so, and had threatened to publicly denounce any such move.[citation needed] The government then refrained from deposing the Patriarch, and limited itself to assigning him to a merely ceremonial role.

The first Patriarch of Eritrea was the very elderly Abune Phillipos who died in 2004 and was succeeded by Abune Yacob. Both the first two Patriarchs of Eritrea were originally Archbishops of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and in fact Abune Yacob and been Patriarchal locum tenens (acting patriarch) during the period between the abdication of Patriarch Abune Merkorios and the election of Patriarch Abune Paulos of Ethiopia. The reign of Abune Yacob as Patriarch of Eritrea was very brief, and he was succeeded by Abune Antonios, the first Patriarch of Eritrea who was not previously a bishop in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

[Kollyvas]

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Ethiopian Orthodox women sing and dance as they celebrate liturgy in church on the eve of Orthodox Christmas in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, January 6, 2006. Ethiopian Police Fire on Demonstrators
Associated Press

An Ethiopian Orthodox faithful beats a drum as he celebrates liturgy in church on the eve of Orthodox Christmas in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, January 6, 2006. Ethiopian Orthodox believers celebrate Orthodox Christmas Day according to the Julian calendar, 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar which is used by most of the world. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya
Police opened fire on demonstrators in the Ethiopian capital on Friday, leaving at least one person dead and 33 wounded as religious processions became political protests for a second day. At least seven officers were injured.

A police official said protesters threw a grenade at officers, while witnesses said protesters threw stones. A witness said the demonstrators were denouncing the head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church for being aligned with the ruling party.

Demonstrations were reported in several neighborhoods across Addis Ababa, and riot police were driving through the city. Some of the police trucks appeared to be carrying people wounded from the clashes.

A senior police officer said a hand grenade was thrown at a patrol providing security for a religious procession, injuring three officers.

"The problem started when this hand grenade was thrown by unidentified people during the religious celebration in Yeka Michael church. Police were trying to cool down the problem where some people were injured," the officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not the official police spokesman.

Four more officers were injured in the ensuing clashes and one civilian died from a gunshot wound, he added. There were no immediate arrest figures.

Doctors at the main Menelik Hospital said they were treating 20 people with gunshot wounds, and two of them were in surgery. Other hospitals also reported receiving six more wounded people, but none of the doctors would identify themselves for fear of arrest.

"The majority of them are shot in the legs and in the chest, but there are a few shot in the head. They are getting treatment so I can't tell you the figure," one doctor said in between treating patients.

Some of those being treated said the police opened fire indiscriminately.

"I don't really know what was happening to me. I was shot by the police twice, one on my stomach and one on my throat," said 16-year-old Wubishet Solomon, who said he was listening to religious music when the shooting started.

Other witnesses said protesters were throwing stones and the police responded with gunfire.

The protesters were shouting slogans denouncing the head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, who was leading the religious observations, one witness said, also asking not to be named for fear of retribution.

The church patriarch, Abune Paulos, has been criticized by opposition supporters for being too close to Ethiopia's ruling party.

Minor protests began Thursday afternoon during Timkat, one of Ethiopia's most important religious observances.

Traditionally, tens of thousands of members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church march through the streets carrying replicas of the Ark of the Covenant, which they believe is kept safe in northern Ethiopia.

During Thursday's protests, marchers began chanting opposition political slogans and throwing stones at police, a police statement said.

The police used live ammunition to quell the demonstrations, shooting one man in the pelvis and leaving three others seriously wounded, the injured man, Pedros Gizaw, told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The clashes began the day after U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Jendayi Frazer arrived in the country, and after Hillary Benn, Britain's international development secretary, cut all of his country's aid to Ethiopia's government because of serious concerns about Ethiopia's commitment to good governance and human rights.

Political unrest in Ethiopia began in June 2005 following disputed elections that returned the governing party to power and led to 88 protesters being killed by security forces.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi ordered the arrest of most senior opposition leaders and the editors of several independent newspapers. They have been charged with treason and genocide, a move that has sparked international criticism.

Meles has also banned political demonstrations, but opposition supporters appear to be mounting protests under the cover of Timkat, which was scheduled to end Friday.

[Kollyvas]

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At least two killed, 36 hurt in Ethiopian capital during Timkat unrest
AFP

Children who attended a church service for Orthodox Epiphany, or Timkat, run from the riot police in Addis Ababa. At least two people were killed and 36 injured, three seriously, after commotion erupted in the capital on the final day of celebrations marking Timkat, police and hospital officials said.(AFP/Peter Delarue)
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Related Article: Ethiopian Police Fire on Demonstrators
At least two people were killed and 36 injured, three seriously, after commotion erupted in the capital on the final day of celebrations marking the Orthodox Epiphany, or Timkat, police and hospital officials said.

Federal police said in a statement broadcast on state television and radio that two civilians died, one killed when protestors hurled a hand grenade at police guarding the event in Addis Ababa, while the other stumbled to death in a stampede.

In addition, police said seven of the 14 injured policemen were caught up in the stampede, while 42 protestors were arrested.

Also, 22 injured civilians, most of them with bullet wounds, included three men who were in critical condition and undergoing emergency surgery at the Menelik Hospital in Addis Ababa, doctors said.

"If shooting was used by the police, the police will investigate the cases. We strictly passed the order not to use any bullets," a police official said.

Among the others wounded, two were women and several had been beaten with police truncheons or hit by rocks apparently thrown by demonstrators who joined up with religious processions around the city, chanting anti-government slogans and throwing stones at police, they said.

"I was carrying my baby and going to the church in the procession when everybody started running and I got shot in the leg," said Serhalem Argaw, a 22-year-old woman being treated for a bullet wound just above her left ankle.

Wubishit Solomon, a 17-year-old student, said he had been running from police when he was hit with a bullet that passed through his neck.

Earlier, witnesses and an AFP correspondent reported hearing gunfire and explosions on procession routes near the British and French embassies in the north and northwestern parts of Addis Ababa.

"We heard shooting outside the French embassy when the procession was passing by," said a diplomat near the French mission.

The patients being treated at the Menelik Hospital "were all coming from around the British embassy," a medical source told AFP.

Uneasy calm had returned to the capital by late afternoon as the commotion subsided.

On Thursday, similar unrest around Timkat processions left at least four people wounded, including one with a gunshot wound, amid continuing tension over disputed elections last year and a crackdown on the opposition after two eruptions of deadly violence in the capital.

Witnesses said some in the crowds of people celebrating the baptism of Jesus Christ had become unruly and were throwing stones.

Timkat, a two-day, raucous festival, ranks second in importance only to Christmas for the country's 40 million Orthodox Church followers and routinely draws tens of thousands into Addis Ababa.

In June and November, at least 84 people were killed during skirmishes when police moved to quell demonstrators protesting against alleged irregularities in the May 15 legislative polls.

Currently, 131 detained Ethiopian opposition figures and journalists face treason and other charges relating to an alleged plot to overthrow the government after disputed elections.