Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church

Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church
ቤተ ክርስትያን ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶ ትግራይ Bet'ə K'rstian Orthodox Tewahədo Tigray
Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion Cathedral in Axum, the seat of the Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church
Abbreviation	TOTC
Classification	Oriental Orthodox
Orientation	Independent Oriental Orthodox, Orthodox Tewahedo
Scripture	Orthodox Tewahedo Bible
Theology	Miaphysitism
Polity	Episcopal
Primate	Vacant
Region	Tigray and Tigrayan diaspora
Headquarters	Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, Axum, Tigray
Founder	The Apostle and Evangelist Mark in 42 AD Alexandria, Saint Frumentius in 328 AD Axum (according to the Tigrayan Orthodox tradition)
Independence	From the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in 2022. Not officially recognized in the broader Orthodox community.

The Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church is one of the Oriental Orthodox Churches with its headquarters in Axum, Tigray Region. It declared autocephaly on 7 May 2021, accusing the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church of not doing enough to speak out against the Tigray war, and for being too closely aligned with the Ethiopian government. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} The archbishops of the Diocese of Tigray announced the establishment of the Synod of the Tigray Orthodox Tewahedo Church on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, based on their previously codified “Church Law” after a three-day meeting from October 21 to 23, 2024. ^{[5] [6]} Although there is declaration of autocephaly, the church has not been officially granted an autocephalous status from the officially recognized Oriental Orthodox Churches as of 2024.

History

See also: Timeline of Orthodox Tewahedo Christianity

Origins

Tewahedo (Ge'ez : ተዋህዶtäwaḥədo) is a Ge'ez word meaning "being made one", cognate to Arabic tawhid .

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia (1917 edition) article on the Henoticon: around 500 bishops within the Patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem refused to accept the "two natures" doctrine decreed by the Council of Chalcedon in 451, thus separating themselves from the rest of Christianity since that time. ^[7] This separate Christian communion came to be known as Oriental Orthodoxy. The Oriental Orthodox Churches, which today include the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of India, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, are referred to as "Non-Chalcedonian". These churches themselves describe their Christology as miaphysite, but outsiders often describe them as monophysite. ^{[8] [9]}

2021 – present

Following the Tigray war, four Archbishops in Tigray announced the formation of a new and independent structure on May 7, 2021, accusing the Ethiopia Orthodox Tewahdo Church of not opposing the war on Tigray, and of being too closely aligned with the perpetrators. ^{[2] [10]} Following the Tigray war, four Archbishops in Tigray announced the formation of a new and independent structure on May 7, 2021, named the autocephaly of the See of Selama Kessate Birhan, the High Administration of Tigray Orthodox Tewahedo Church. This was in response to allegations that the Ethiopia Orthodox Tewahdo Church had not appropriately opposed the war on Tigray and was too closely aligned with the war's perpetrators. ^{[2] [10]} They also alleged that the Synod did nothing to protect the churches and monasteries in Tigray from destruction and that they withheld financial support from the region. ^{[1] [2]} The Axum massacre in November 2020, when 100–800 civilians in Axum were killed by the Eritrean forces, was commonly cited as one example. ^[11] The massacre was carried out in the center of Axum, near the Church of Our Lady of Zion, one of the most important holy sites in the Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The church was also looted and damaged.

The first formal communication between the two churches occurred in February 2023, when the Ethiopian Church released a letter in which they requested to talk to the Tigrayan church leaders about reconciliation. Rather than being addressed to the See of Selama Kessate Birhan, Patriarchate of the Tigray Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the letter was addressed to individual archbishops, which caused further irritation amongst the Tigray leaders, as the Ethiopian Church refused to acknowledge their institution. ^[1]

Also in February 2023, the Tigrayan Church released its first liturgy book in Tigrinya and Ge'ez. ^[1]

In March 2023, the General Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church released a statement saying they would send a delegation to Tigray to attempt to repair the schism between the two churches. The Tigrayan church leaders rejected the statement, with some priests saying it did not include an apology for the Ethiopian Church's actions. ^[10] That same month, the Tigrayan bishops appointed a bishop to oversee Tigrayan church members in the diaspora; this move was criticized by the Ethiopian Church. ^[10]

On July 16, 2023, the Tigray Orthodox Tewahdo Church council nominated 10 episcopates five in Tigray and five abroad. ^{[12] [13]} Early in the month, the Ethiopian Church officially apologized for their lack of action during the war, but Tigrayan leaders did not express any interest in reconciling, with some criticizing the apology for not recognizing the full magnitude of the injustices committed during the war. ^{[14] [15]}

Traditions

In common with all Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Western Orthodox churches; the Catholic Church and the Old Catholic churches of the Union of Utrecht, the Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church professes belief in the seven sacraments of baptism, confirmation, eucharist, confession, the anointing of the sick, matrimony, and holy orders. It regards the first four as being "necessary for every believer".

Liturgical language

The traditional liturgical language of the Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church is Geʽez. This was the language of the early Aksumite Christians of the region. Though Geʽez no longer has native speakers, the language is still used for church liturgical functions and festivities. However, the sibket, or sermons, are normally given in the local Tigrinya language. Geʽez is currently being replaced by Tigrinya as the principal language for church services. ^[16]

Biblical canon

Main article: Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon

The Tewahedo Church Biblical Canon contains 81 books, including almost all of those which are accepted by other Orthodox and Oriental Christians. The exception are the Books of the Maccabees, at least some of which are accepted in the Eastern Orthodox and other Oriental Orthodox churches, but not in the Tewahedo churches. The books of Meqabyan, which are accepted instead, have an etymologically connected name, but rather different content. The Tigrayana Orthodox canon, the Eritrean Orthodox canon, and the Ethiopian Orthodox canon are identical.

• The Narrower Canon also contains Enoch, Jubilees, and three books of the Meqabyan;
• The Broader Canon includes all of the books found in the Narrower Canon, as well as the two Books of the Covenant, Four Books of Sinodos, a Book of Clement, and Didascalia;

Similarities to Judaism and Islam

The Ethiopian Church, Jerusalem

The Ethiopian Church, places a heavier emphasis on Old Testament teachings than one might find in other churches. Women are prohibited from entering the church temple during menses; ^[17] they are also expected to cover their hair with a large scarf (or shash) while in church, as described in 1 Corinthians, chapter 11. As with Orthodox synagogues, men and women sit separately in the Ethiopian church, with men on the left and women on the right (when facing the altar). ^[18] (Women covering their heads and separation of the sexes in churches officially is common to few other Christian traditions; it is also the rule in some non-Christian religions, Islam and Orthodox Judaism among them). ^[19]

Before praying, the Ethiopian Orthodox remove their shoes in order to acknowledge that one is offering prayer before a holy God. ^[20] Ethiopian Orthodox worshippers remove their shoes when entering a church temple, ^[18] in accordance with Exodus 3:5 (in which Moses, while viewing the burning bush, was commanded to remove his shoes while standing on holy ground). Furthermore, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is known to observe the seventh-day Sabbath (Saturday, or the lesser Sabbath), in addition to the Lord's Day (Sunday, or the Christian Sabbath), ^[21] recognizing both to be holy days of joy, prayer, and contemplation, although more emphasis, because of the Resurrection of Christ, is laid upon Sunday. While the Ethiopian Church is known for this practice, it is neither an innovation nor unique to it, ^[22] deriving from the Apostolic Constitutions and the Apostolic Canons ^{[23] [24]} the former of which without the Apostolic Canons included is in the church's 81-book canon as the Didascalia. The nature of the Sabbath only became a doctrinal dispute in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria in the centuries leading up to the issue being rectified by Ewostatewos. ^[25] The emperor Gelawdewos in his Confession, an apologia of traditional beliefs and practices says "we do not honour it as the Jews do... but we so honour it that we celebrate thereon the Eucharist and have love-feasts, even as our Fathers the Apostles have taught us in the Didascalia". ^[26]

The Ethiopian Church does not call for circumcision, yet it is a cultural practice, ^[27] as is abstention from pork and other meats deemed unclean. It is not regarded as being necessary to salvation. The liturgy mentions, "let us not be circumcised like the Jews." ^[28]

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church observes days of ritual purification. ^{[29] [30]} People who are ritually unclean may approach the church but are not permitted to enter it; they instead stand near the church door and pray during the liturgy. ^[31]

Rugare Rukuni and Erna Oliver identify the Nine Saints as Jewish Christians, and attribute the Judaic character of Ethiopian Christianity, in part, to their influence. ^{[32] : 6, 8}

Women in the Church

Women are prohibited from entering Tigrayan church temples during menses; they are also expected to cover their hair with a large scarf (or a shash) while they are in church, as described in 1 Corinthians, chapter 11.

Patriarchs, Abunas and bishops of Tigray

• Archbishops of Mekelle Abune Isayas
• Archbishops of Adigrat Abune Merhakirstos
• Archbishops of Shire Abune Petros
• Archbishops of Axum Abune Mekarios

List of Bishops or Episcopsates

The leaders of the Tigray Orthodox Tewahdo Church’s See of Selama Kesate Birhan elected ten candidates as bishops on July 16, 2023. ^[4] The new bishops will lead dioceses both in the Tigray region and abroad.

• Abba ZeSelassie Markos
• Abba Haile Michael Aregai
• Abba Estifanos Gebre Giorgis
• Abba Mehari Habte (Nibure Id)
• Abba Elias Gebre Kidan
• Abba ZeraDawit Brehane
• Abba Yemanebrihan Welde Samuel
• Abba Tsegegenet Kidane Welde
• Abba Sereqebrihan Welde Samuel
• Abba Yohannes Kebede

See also

• Christianity portal

• Christian observances of Jewish holidays
• Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church
• Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
• Judaizers
• List of calendar of saints in the Orthodox Tewahedo
• Oriental Orthodox Christianity

References

1. Synod Secretariat sends letters to five Tigray Archbishops seeking "reconciliation", blames "political conspiracy" for rift, 10 February 2023, retrieved July 17, 2023
2. መግለፂ ሊቀ ጳጳስ ሀገረ ስብከት ዞባ መቐለ, 29 March 2022, retrieved July 16, 2023
3. Tigray Orthodox Church ordained Episcopates, 23 July 2023, retrieved July 24, 2023
4. Tigray Church elects bishops in defiance of Addis synod, 2 August 2023, retrieved August 3, 2023
5. "በትግራይ ክልል የሚገኙ ሊቃነ ጳጳሳት የራሳቸውን ሲኖዶስ ማቋቋማቸውን ገለጹ", amharic.voanews.com, 24 October 2024, retrieved October 29, 2024
6. "Excommunicated Archbishops Declare a New Ethnical Synod in Tigray, Ethiopia", ocpsociety.org, 26 October 2024, retrieved October 29, 2024
7. "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Henoticon". www.newadvent.org. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
8. Winkler, Dietmar W. (2012). "Miaphysitism A New Term for Use in the History of Dogma and in Ecumenical Theology". The Harp. 10: 33–40.
9. Brock, Sebastian P. (2016). "Miaphysite, not Monophysite!". Cristianesimo Nella Storia (in Italian). Il Mulino: 45–52. ISBN   978-88-15-26168-7.
10. Houreld, Katharine (April 12, 2023). "Divisions in Ethiopia's ancient church pose new threat to war-weary country". The Washington Post . Retrieved July 16, 2021.
11. "A bid 'to exterminate us': Tigrayans recount massacre by Eritrean troops". RFI. March 3, 2021. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
12. መንበረ ሰላማ ከሳቴ ብርሃን ትግራይ 10 ኤጲስ-ቆጶሳት ከም ዝሾመ ኣፍሊጡ, 16 July 2023, retrieved July 16, 2023
13. "#ASDailyScoop: Tigray Orthodox leaders remain on course to appoint episcopates amid efforts to resolve schism". Addis Standard. July 12, 2023. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
14. "Ethiopia Church apologises to followers in Tigray over war". Africanews. 2023-07-07. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
15. "#NewsAlert: Orthodox Synod issues official apology for failing Tigray Orthodox Church, its followers". Addis Standard. 2023-07-06. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
16. NgCheong-Lum, Roseline; Orr, Tamra (15 April 2020). Eritrea. Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC. pp. 83–84. ISBN   978-1-5026-5578-3.
17. Daoud, Marcos; Hazen, Blatta Marsie (1991). "The Liturgy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church". Ethiopian Orthodox Church . Retrieved 24 August 2020.
18. Hable Selassie, Sergew (1997). The Church of Ethiopia – A panorama of History and Spiritual Life. Addis Abeba, Ethiopia: Berhanena Selam. p. 66.
19. Duffner, Jordan Denari (13 February 2014). "Wait, I thought that was a Muslim thing?!". Commonweal . Retrieved 26 July 2020.
20. Kosloski, Philip (16 October 2017). "Did you know Muslims pray in a similar way to some Christians?". Aleteia . Retrieved 25 July 2020.
21. Binns, John (28 November 2016). The Orthodox Church of Ethiopia: A History. I.B.Tauris. p. 58. ISBN   9781786720375. The king presided, overruled the bishops who were committed to the more usual position that Sunday only was a holy day, and decreed that the Sabbatarian teaching of the northern monks became the position of the church.
22. "The Sabbath: A Hallowed and Holy Day". Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Since the first century, Christians made Sunday the Christian Sabbath and kept Saturday as the Jewish Sabbath.
23. "The Ethiopic Didascalia: Or, the Ethiopic Version of the Apostolical Constitutions, Received in the Church of Abyssinia". Assemble yourselves together in the church, evening and morning; offer up praises, and sing; and read the Psalms of David, the sixty-second, and moreover the hundred and fortieth. And especially on the Jewish Sabbath, and on the first day of the week, the Christian Sabbath, which is the day of His holy resurrection, offer up praises and thanksgivings and glory to the Lord, who hath created all things by his Son Jesus Christ, whom he sent unto us, who was pleased to suffer according to his will, and was buried in the tomb, and rose again from the dead.
24. "Apostolic Constitutions (Book VIII)". New Advent. XXXIII. I Peter and Paul do make the following constitutions. Let the slaves work five days; but on the Sabbath day and the Lord's day let them have leisure to go to church for instruction in piety. We have said that the Sabbath is on account of the creation, and the Lord's day of the resurrection. Let slaves rest from their work all the great week, and that which follows it — for the one in memory of the passion, and the other of the resurrection; and there is need they should be instructed who it is that suffered and rose again, and who it is permitted Him to suffer, and raised Him again. Let them have rest from their work on the Ascension, because it was the conclusion of the dispensation by Christ. Let them rest at Pentecost, because of the coming of the Holy Spirit, which was given to those that believed in Christ. Let them rest on the festival of His birth, because on it the unexpected favour was granted to men, that Jesus Christ, the Logos of God, should be born of the Virgin Mary, for the salvation of the world. Let them rest on the festival of Epiphany, because on it a manifestation took place of the divinity of Christ, for the Father bore testimony to Him at the baptism; and the Paraclete, in the form of a dove, pointed out to the bystanders Him to whom testimony was borne. Let them rest on the days of the apostles: for they were appointed your teachers to bring you to Christ, and made you worthy of the Spirit. Let them rest on the day of the first martyr Stephen, and of the other holy martyrs who preferred Christ to their own life.
25. Tamrat, Taddesse (1972). Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN   978-0-19-821671-1. OCLC   653228.
26. Abir, Mordechai (28 October 2013). Ethiopia and the Red Sea: The Rise and Decline of the Solomonic Dynasty and Muslim European Rivalry in the Region. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-136-28090-0.
27. "Issue 122 – Circumcision and the Copts | the British Orthodox Church".
28. "Gizret - ግዝረት [Circumcision]". 9 January 2022.
29. Ian Bradley (2 November 2012). Water: A Spiritual History. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN   978-1-4411-6767-5.
30. H. Bulzacchelli, Richard (2006). Judged by the Law of Freedom: A History of the Faith-works Controversy, and a Resolution in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. University Press of America. p. 19. ISBN   9780761835011. The Ethiopian and Coptic Churches distinguishes between clean and unclean meats, observes days of ritual purification, and keeps a kind of dual Sabbath on both Saturday and Sunday.
31. Pedersen, Kristen Stoffregen (1999). "Is the Church of Ethiopia a Judaic Church?". Warszawskie Studia Teologiczne. XII (2): 205–206.
32. Rukuni, Rugare; Oliver, Erna (January 2019). "Ethiopian Christianity: A continuum of African Early Christian polities". Hervormde Teologiese Studies. 75 (1): 1–9. doi:10.4102/hts.v75i1.5335.

Sources

• Binns, John (2016). The Orthodox Church of Ethiopia: A History. Tauris. ISBN   978-1784536954.
• Meyendorff, John (1989). Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church 450-680 A.D. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN   9780881410563.