| Abune Merkorios |
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ACCESSION AND REMOVAL After four years as the Patriarch, Abune Merkorios was dethroned in 1992 under intense pressure by the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front ( TPLF ) gorilla fighters upon their assumption of power in Ethiopia . It is unclear whether or not the Patriarch willingly abdicated at first or acted under duress, but when he made an effort to reverse this action, the Synod stepped in and announced it had removed him. It stated that his election had been under the duress and direction of the Communist government, and so his continued occupation of the Patrarchate was not legitimate. The TPLF made it clear to the Synod (church council) that they will not accept Merkorios as the leader of the church. The synod, unable to master the pressure from the government left the patriarch alone to defend for himself. A new election was held, and Abune Paulos , once a prisoner of the Derg, and a long time exile in the United States, became Patriarch of Ethiopia. Abune Merkorios fled the country in exile, sure that his fate will be like that of the late 2nd patriarch Abune Tewophilos who was murdered in 1977 by the Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces, Police, and Territorial Army ( Derg ) after the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1975 .History of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church Homepage SYNOD IN EXILE After leaving Ethiopia, Abune Merkorios announced from abroad that his removal was illigitimate, and carried out under duress from the new transitional government of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front ( EPRDF ). He claimed that he was still the legal Patriarch of Ethiopia, as canon law did not support the enthronement of a Patriarch while another lived. The Synod however replied that it was entitled under canon law to remove the patriarch which it had done prior to the election of the new Patriarch. Several bishops left Ethiopia to join him in exile and now live mostly in the United States where they proclaimed a parallel synod. These moves to split the synod, who the legitimate occupant of the Patriarchate should be, and other issues have aroused much argument among the clergy and faithful. Abune Paulos however is the patriarch recognized by the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church inside Ethiopia. The body claiming to be The Holy Synod in Exile continues to uphold Abune Merkorios as Patriarch of Ethiopia. Efforts continue to avert a permanent scism of the church continue. However, the so called "Synod in Exile" has recently also suffered further splits, and the Synod inside Ethiopia is faced with challenges to it's authority inside Ethiopia as those disgruntled by even minor disputes have taken to questioning Abune Paulos's authority and legitimacy. The Church in exile is being buffeted by accusations from certain quarters that it has split the church, and that the exiled bishops would have done better to remain in Ethiopia, and in the legitimate Synod fighting for their cause. There have also been accusations that some of the exiled Bishop s intend to make the split permanent by proclaiming an independent Ethiopian Patriarchate Outside Ethiopia with it's line of Patriarchal succession.''Ibid'' NOTES SEE ALSO |
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