Church in the headlines for third week running
could it be the last?
I’ve been chronicling the events taking place with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church as those of you who have been here since the start (two weeks ago) know. Last week was also jam-packed with plenty back and forth, press releases, briefings, announcements and what-have-you from all sides.
I will continue the timeline format from the week before, where I’ll be writing about what happened when. If you would like to see what was happening before this though, you need to go here.
Without further ado, the events from last week, in brief:
Monday, February 6 - A statement by Addis Abeba Police on the injuries sustained by 19 police officers during a confrontation in a church bordering Addis Abeba and Oromia region.
More on the issue is an interview in Amharic on that day with a representative of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Wednesday, February 8 - In Kolfe Keranio, Addis Abeba, people gather at a church following a call made by ringing church bells; unrest in the area. Furthermore, the Joint Security and Intelligence Task Force states that it bans any unauthorized rallies, including the one planned by the Church on Sunday, February 12.
Thursday, February 9 - The church says the rally will go ahead as planned regardless. Government Communication Services puts out a statement. The statement in full is here but the gist is that there are forces that are using this opportunity to create further chaos and dismantle the country and that the Church needs to solve this through dialogue.
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church refutes some of the claims made by the statement, as giving legal recognition to the breakaway clergy and ask for a formal apology from the government for supporting illegal groups and activities.
The Church says that it is open to discussion with the government.
The Addis Abeba Mayor’s Office on the other hands says that there are attempts to incite violence and spread this current issue of the churches to schools.
Goodbye Facebook, Telegram and TikTok.
Friday, February 10 - A lot happened on happened on Friday. For one, contrary to the direction of recent events, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church sent out a reconciliation request letter to five archbishops in Tigray. However, this attempt to mend the severed relationship between the two may not yield the results they hoped for. The Tigray Orthodox Tewahedo Church cut ties with the Holy Synod in May 2021 due to what it said was the silence of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church during the war. According to this report, it looks they won’t be budging. A story in Amharic on Deutsche Welle and one in English here.
Schools were closed on this day following the texts sent out to parents the night before.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission shared a press release on the events it had thus far monitored. The report in brief states that last week on Saturday, February 4 at least eight people were killed by government security forces at a confrontation that took place between those who came assigned by the breakaway clergy and followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church that tried to prevent the takeover of the church. Moreover, those who were found wearing black as per the request of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church were imprisoned among other things.
The Federal Supreme Court grants the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church request for an injunction. This is for a few days but the Church is asking for three months time to get its case together during which the defendants (members of the breakaway synod aka the Holy Synod of Oromia and Nations and Nationalities) will barred from going into the Church’s premises. The injunction is in place for now but the case is ongoing.
On the same day, delegation of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church including the patriarch meet with the Prime Minister.
Saturday, February 11 - The meeting between the representatives of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the government was said to be fruitful by the Church. According to the statement by the Church, the government has fully accepted its stand. The peaceful protest for the next day is postponed until further notice. The briefing is about 30 minutes long but if you have time I’d recommend listening to it.
Sunday, February 12 - One of the episcopates appointed by the three archbishops, says he is regretful and asks for forgiveness from the Holy Synod.
Now, the question remains, what are the finer points of the discussion with the Prime Minister and how exactly are they planning to address this.
In Oromia Region
About a 100 people have been reported to have died in East Wellega, Oromia Region according to reports from Addis Maleda. The attacks took place the week before the last one, carried out by the Oromo Liberation Front (OLA) mostly targeting Amharas in the area. The attacks came to a stop late, after members of the Defense Force reached the area. More on the story in English here.
On human rights issues
A recent agreement took place between the Ministry of Education and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission to include human rights education into the education system, hopefully to get students to understand their rights and obligations. With all the flagrant human right’s abuses in the country, this could definitely be step in the right direction.
The referendum
I wrote a few sentences last week on the referendum taking place across six zones and 5 special weredas in Ethiopia. It seems that laws were broken in one of the polling stations in Wolayta according to the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia. Kebele administration heads in the area were found handing out temporary IDs to people, after which the voting came to a stop. The results of the referendum are being tallied as I write this.
What else?
Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres is expected to visit Ethiopia this week to attend the AU summit and to visit Tigray and asses the humanitarian situation there. I will also be reporting on the summit so expect some updates on that front.
The government has started exporting wheat according to a tweet from the Prime Minster. I wrote an article about this entitled, “Hope or Hype?”, a few months back if you’re looking for a long (er) read on the ambitions for wheat export.
That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with more updates! If you liked this, forward this email to a friend who might appreciate this.
Note: I go through all the major news outlets, newspapers, online publications, and will at times, include reports, notes on parliamentary sessions, and go through fact checking websites as well. I try to provide links to both English and Amharic sources, and I usually time stamp the video I link to unless I think the whole video is relevant.