Eritrean Orthodox Church

Although the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church was granted autocephaly by the pope of Coptic Christianity in 1950 , the church 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 remain high between the two churches. 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 confined to a strictly ceremonial role while administration of the church was taken over by a government appointed layperson, Mr. Yoftahe Dimetros. According to reports the Patriarch fell out of favour for resisting government interference in church affairs. It has also been rumored that the Eritrean government had requested that Pope Shenouda recognize a replacement of Patrarch Antonios, but that the Pope had refused to do so, and had threatened to publicly denounce any such move. The government then refrained for a time from deposing the Patriarch, and limited itself to assigning him to a merely ceremonial role.

However, in a letter dated 13 January 2006 Patriarch Antonios was informed that following several secret sessions of the church's Holy Synod, he had been formally deposed. In a written response that was widely published the Patriarch rejected the grounds of his dismissal, questioned its legitimacy, and excommunicated two signatories to the !3 January letter , including Yoftahe Dimetros, who the Patriarch identified as being responsible for the church's recent upheavals. Patriarch Antonios also appealed his case to the Council of the Monasteries of the Eritrean Orthodox Church and to The Egyptian Orthodox Church. {see 'Letter from His Holiness Abune Antonios, Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church', www.tewahdo.com}

Abune Antonios was elected on March 5 , 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.

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.

EXTERNAL LINKS

http://www.britishorthodox.org/110g.php (Please scroll down the page for the following items: Eritrean Orthodox Church elects its third Patriarch - Abune Antonios enthroned as Eritrean Patriarch - Four new Eritrean Bishops)

Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church in North America

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Eritrean Orthodox Church