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PART
TWO:
The
Role of Religion in the Political Life of Ethiopia:
The
Ethiopian Orthodox Church �Synod in Exile�
By
Tecola W. Hagos
I. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church �Synod in Exile�
I
am writing this piece with fear and trepidation, for the members of a
segment of Ethiopian society I am awed by are the leaders of the Ethiopian
Orthodox Tewahedo Church. I
believe that no one group is as talented, as well educated, and as
powerful as the leaders of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It is not
without reason Christian Ethiopians have such reverence to our Church
Fathers, which respect borders worship. The discipline required of our
Church Fathers is monumental. The education and knowledge of an Ethiopian
Church scholar is the equivalent of three or four PhDs in linguistics,
history, church dogma and liturgy, political science, philosophy et cetera
all squeezed in an awesome one huge knowledge powerhouse.
The
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church �Synod in exile� had issued a statement on January 21, 2007 on
the ordinations or investiture of several Abunas (Bishops). Canon Law,
technically speaking, provides for only one Synod that satisfies the
number of Abunas required for such assembly at any one time. The type of
language used in the �statement� by the �exiled� Church Fathers is
unbecoming of such a solemn declaration. What was tragic in that statement
was the use of polemic and the language of political-activists in
proclaiming the appointment of the new Abunas and the reason for the
�exile� by the Church Fathers. Ethiopians, at least most Christians,
look up to our Church Fathers for guidance and as good examples for
virtuous living people may aspire to live no matter where they maybe.
Thus, such distinguished Church Fathers under any circumstance must not
degenerate to using such questionable language. In fact, it is
embarrassing to read political diatribe in a statement by religious
leaders.
I
have also serious misgivings about religious people going in to exile
unless there is an immediate and certain persecution threatening their
lives in a manner the life of Abuna Paulos was threatened by Mengistu.
There was no such threat on the wellbeing of the members of the �Synod
in exile� in 1991 or after. To this day I do not know of a single Abuna
imprisoned or in any manner abused by the Ethiopian Government since the
takeover of 1991 by the FPRDF. Those Abunas in �exile� who formed the
�Synod in exile� including the old Patriarch left Ethiopia on their
own free accord. This fact drastically contrasts with the types of murders
and imprisonments suffered by several Abunas including Patriarch
Tewophilos in the hands of Mengistu and his
brutal regime.
The
tragedy is that the old Church is splintering toward permanent two
Churches due to the appointment of Abunas by the members of the �Synod
in exile� a clear challenge to Patriarch Paulos and the Holy Synod of
the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. In retaliation to such historic breach of authority
by the �Synod in exile� in appointing new Abunas, drastic measures
were adopted by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church. The Holy Synod of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church met in a special session in Addis Ababa as a reaction to the
January 2007 appointment of Abunas by the �Synod in exile.� It was
announced on 3 February 2007 that Patriarch Merkorios, Abuna Melke Tsedek,
Abuna Zena Markos and Abuna Elias had all been stripped of all Episcopal
and Ecclesiastic authority, and were excommunicated (with all its
consequences) from the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church. However, the newly appointed Abunas by the old Patriarch Merkorios
and the �Synod in exile� were not excommunicated, but their
appointments as Abunas were not recognized by the Holly Synod. This means
that no Christian Ethiopian any where in the world can have any
relationship with the excommunicated old Patriarch and the named Abunas
without violating the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church.
This
is an extremely serious development and must be handled with great care
and not be left to partisan ignorant lay individuals writing in Websites.
What happened leading to the controversy is not exactly as simple as
claimed in the announcement of 21 January 2007 by the �Synod in
exile.� The election of Patriarch Paulos was not something extraordinary
but a result of the usual Byzantine process of manipulation involving
three factions, and the Church leaders now in exile were not victims as
portrayed in their statement, but they were part and parcel of the
process. As a matter of fact, Patriarch Paulos was the least influential
individual at that time because he was in exile as victim of Mengistu and
the power structure of the then Patriarch Merkorios that included Abuna
Zena Markos. Change was inevitable, for the clergy, the Church
establishment, and the Faithful all were demanding change of leadership.
There were demonstrations and escalating confrontations that the EPRDF had
no choice in the matter but to effect change as was also being suggested
by close associates of the old Patriarch.
The
leadership of the rival members of a faction of the Ethiopian Church
sympathetic to the EPRDF (the new Ethiopian Government), which also
happened to satisfy the ambition of those Abunas close to Patriarch
Merkorios supported the appointment of the new Patriarch because of the
fact that he was well qualified and a victim of a brutal government just
driven out of power. The Synod that elected Patriarch Paulos was called
into order included in its initial phase the same Church Fathers who are
now making up the �Synod in exile.� They were in authority at that
time, and were attempting to replace Patriarch Merkorios by one of their
own choice less identified with Mengistu. The fact of the matter was that
there was antagonistic relationship between those who were Derg supporters
(the old Patriarch and Abunas who formed the �Synod in exile�), and
those who were persecuted by the Derg such as Patriarch Paulos and those
who formed the Holy Synod in Ethiopia. The general political environment
at the time in 1991-92 was that of change. Thus, it was only reasonable
for the Holy Synod in 1992 to elect as a Patriarch someone not a
collaborator of Mengistu�s brutal Government. It is a fact that
Patriarch Merkorios and members of the �Synod in exile� never once
protested the atrocities committed against hundred of thousands of
Ethiopians during the reign of terror of Mengistu and collaborators. No
matter how you cut it, Patriarch Paulos is the legitimate head of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church, an individual who suffered much in the hands of the brutal
government of Mengistu Hailemariam and supporters.
In
late 1991, Abune Zena Markos,
a truly dignified and charismatic personality as is often the case with
almost every Ethiopian Church Father, came to my office (as you may guess
I was totally overwhelmed by his presence) to see me at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, where I was holed up at the time, to discuss with me
about several problems the Church was having and asked me for some help
such as the opening of the main gate of the Cathedral of the Trinity, the
return of the Church�s property near Arat Kilo, the release of budgetary
fund for the Church et cetera. Of course, I protested to his visiting with
me on the ground that as the august Father of our Church he could simply
have summoned me to come to his office rather than make a trip to see some
lowly advisor like me. Among such issues in our discussion he raised the
issue of the deteriorating health of Patriarch Merkorios and that he may
be prevailed upon to abdicate. As far as I can tell, that was how the ball
for a new Patriarch started to roll. [And I left the EPRDF Government a
year and a half later.]
II.
The Election of Patriarch Paulos and the Voices of Criticism
My understanding at the time in 1991-92 was that
all of the preparations for the
Holy Synod and the official papers were arranged by some of the Abunas who
are now members of the �Synod in exile� or supporters. For example, at
the initial stage of the procedure, Abuna Zena Markos and supporters did
not protest the call for the Holy Synod; they were the ones facilitating
the invitations and arranging the accommodations for the participants. It
was only later after the Holy Synod was to be seated and when they
realized that the election was not going in their direction that they
started the protest. The members of the group who designed the replacement
of the Old Patriarch lost ground because they were divided in their choice
of a replacement, and were simply out maneuvered by the Ethiopian
Government.
It
is to be recalled that Patriarch Merkorios during his term of office was
perceived as a militant Derg �Cadre� often accused of carrying
concealed weapon on his person. Patriarch Merkorios�s one negative
attribute, which led in the first place to the intrigue within his own
rank to replace him, was the fact that he was an individual hand-picked by
Mengistu Hailemariam. As the saying goes people who live in a glass-house
should not be throwing stones. Like our secular politics, our religious
politics is stained by personal greed and ambition, civic
irresponsibility, ethnicism et cetera. More importantly, to my
understanding that the election of the new Patriarch was triggered by the
consent of the Patriarch stating to the Synod that he was resigning for
health reason. There is no rule that forbids a sitting Patriarch from
resigning for any reason let alone for sickness.
In
Ethiopian politics of struggle for power, there are not just two or three
sides to a story, but several layered more bizarre dimensions than can be
imagined. The tragedy is that this breakup of the Church was not
necessary. And the victims in all these recrimination and fracture are the
faithful people of Ethiopia who have no voice in the matter. At any rate,
I would not have been that much concerned if the breakup was due to
ideology or on points of reformation. The Ethiopian Church is in need of
serious reformation starting with the election of Patriarchs and the
investiture of Abunas (Bishops).
I
regret finding myself, in a role I absolutely hate, as if I am the only
person with the truth, and I end up in a situation that feels like I am
defending the Government of Meles Zenawi, because of misleading statements
made by individuals with horrible background as participants in the �Red
Terror� or �White Terror� or being Mengistu�s officials and
executioners, et cetera attempting to recreate themselves as
�opposition� leaders or defenders of human rights et cetera now. These
people have no shame like the proverbial hyena that asks for a kurbet to sleep on having traveled to a far country begging an
overnight lodging among people who have no knowledge of its background. It
seems that the Ethiopian community wherever I find it represents a very
sick society permeated with centuries of unchallenged degenerative
cultural dead-weight practices and habits and the unjust accommodation of
criminals and social outcastes.
In
a recent statement in Ethiopian
Review (12 February 2007), it seems the honorific title �Ato� is
used as a term of derision. The Review
stated the following about Patriarch Paulos, �Ato
Gebremedhin (the former Aba Paulos) is dismissing church administrators
and priests in Ethiopia who are refusing to mention his name during prayer
services.� This is yellow journalism at its worst, illustrative
of the boundless appetite for vulgarity. This is a manifestation that the
moral standard of Ethiopians, at least of those responsible for that
statement, is dipping below the threshold of common decency. Since when is
�Ato� an identification of individuals who have lost credence in our
eyes? Is everyone addressed with �Ato� to be considered some how
lacking in moral worth as a human being? One must be careful with the type
of language one uses especially terms that are significant in creating
some formal pecking order.
Patriarch
Paulos is the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church and recognized as such by the many Church leaders around the world.
First of all, he was never a Derg supporter, and second of all, he was
first appointed Abuna by Patriarch Tewophilos
in 1974 and was promptly arrested and imprisoned by Mengistu with
the three other fellow appointees along with the Patriarch who was later
murdered. Abuna Paulos was imprisoned without trial under horrible
conditions for almost ten years from 1974 to 1983 by Mengistu. After his
release from prison and during his exile in the United States he was
confirmed as Abuna Paulos by Patriarch Teklehaimanot. It is to the
maintenance of our own self respect and dignity that we should treat this
Church Father with utmost respect for the dignity of his office and the
suffering he endured in the hands of the brutal murderous Mengistu, rather
than try to undermine him by throwing a tantrum in public like the author
of the article I quoted from the Ethiopian Review.
It
is sad that human beings seem not to learn from their past. Only yesterday
a brutal dictator was driven out of office abandoning his supporters to
the hurricane of change that swept them to oblivion. And the leader of
that force that drove Mengistu to flee, Meles Zenawi, is committing the
same brutality that caused the rebellion in the first place and led to the
destruction of Mengistu and his government. Meles Zenawi has fractured
Ethiopia. He has destroyed the brother hood of freedom fighters by
creating animosity between former TPLF members. He lives in some kind of
delusion that he is going to outlive his many crimes against the people of
Ethiopia and the members of the TPLF and others. And yet we see individuals making the same mistake of
supporting such a person as did happen with people in case of Mengistu.
Meles
Zenawi, because of his ineptitude and narrow perception of Ethiopian
history, sociology, and jurisprudence, with hunger for power and his own
glory gave a chance for Mengistu�s men and women to mobilize and acquire
devastating power of comeback, due to the fact that he caused the
Ethiopian population to be vulnerable because he suppressed democratic
development to such an extent that only anti-democratic individuals who
are used to spilling innocent blood as part of the �Red Terror,�
�White Terror� and the Derg were able to revive their old team
structures and mobilize the many decent Ethiopians, who were subjected to
the suppression of the Government of Meles, into a formidable force of
opposition. Imprisoning a handful of CUD (Kinijit) leaders on silly
charges such as �outrage to the Constitution,� �crime of Genocide�
et cetera will simply harden the opposition in a manner that will be
destructive to the very continued life of the State of Ethiopia.
The
trigger for criticism and adverse reaction toward Patriarch Paulos by very
many Ethiopians in the Diaspora as well as in Ethiopia is not entirely
unjustified. Such political
debacles as pointed out above being the case, Patriarch Paulos must voice
his disapproval of the illegal detentions and political oppression of
Ethiopians, and defend the human rights of Ethiopians who are victimized
all over again after having suffered the brutality of Mengistu by being
now illegally detained, brutalized and murdered by Meles Zenawi and his
security forces. Because of the right action he took of house-cleaning
within his administration, an administration he inherited from the old
Patriarch that was a hornet�s nest of Derg supporters some of whom
implicated with Red Terror, he was portrayed falsely as if he was
targeting non-Tygrean innocent employees.
I
am not urging here that the Church be involved in politics, but I believe
that the Church for sure has the responsibility and singular duty to stand
up and defend Ethiopians from brutality, illegal detention, and murder by
the Government of Meles Zenawi or by anybody else. It is both a duty and a
moral imperative as an act of Christian charity following in the foot
steps of the Christ to condemn all forms of violence and oppression
against people. Just think about it, why did you think the Christ suffered
flogging and crucifixion? Was it not an act of love for the victims of
Roman military oppression, brutality and violence against a defenseless
population? Who said being a Church leader is a pleasant walk in the park?
It does entail tremendous sacrifice in defending the human rights
and dignity of all human beings. I
need not tell this to Patriarch Paulos, for he had experienced the
brutality of power first hand.
This
brings me to the question of the role of religion in general in shaping
the moral content of Ethiopians. I was shocked, on my return to Ethiopia
in 1991 after having lived in exile for over fifteen years, to witness
first hand how Ethiopian children and adults behave with each other. The
blanket claim about the polite behavior of Ethiopian adults and children
is all a myth, for I found most of the adults and children to have less
than stellar relationship. Specially I found some of the Children I
encountered to be unruly, rude, loud, endlessly fighting with each other,
and seem to be on their own most of the time without adult supervision.
The situation gets even worse when I visited further into the countryside.
I was very much troubled by the absence of simple instruction of children
by their parents and family members in simple etiquette on how to behave
among adults or with each other or on maintaining simple cordial
relationships with members of society.
Overworked
Ethiopian teachers, who are probably the hardest working and the least
paid teachers in the world, dealing with an average class size of sixty or
more students with poor teaching facility, could not provide effective
moral guidance to students. The problem is compounded in religious
schools. Students are severely abused with lashing and abusive treatments.
Children grow up being treated very badly and as victims of violence. The
lack of adequate and nutritious food stunts their normal physical and
mental growth. Should it surprise us that as adults if most of them become
violent and irrational as is the case with a number of our leaders in the
government and in the opposition, as well as in the police and military
forces?
The
process of becoming an adult for an Ethiopian child is truly a monumental
task with very serious impediments. The most serious problems for
Ethiopian children are Ethiopian adults. Here is where religion could play
a leading role. There ought to be some system of serious and sustained
instructions on moral standards by the Churches and Mosques in Ethiopia.
The parents of Ethiopian children have to be involved in providing the
first line of defense against immorality. Of course, schools have also a
role to play in shaping the moral lives of young Ethiopians. I was very
much concerned and truly disappointed in the couple of years I was in
Ethiopia watching the treatment of children and how a number of children
behave. It is not just a case of poverty, but serious lack of concern for
the welfare of children that I witnessed in most families I visited in
Ethiopia. Poverty is not sufficient excuse for the deterioration of moral
standards and good behavior in any society.
I
do not want to be misunderstood here on this point; in fact, the treatment
of children in Ethiopia is far more humane compared to how children are
exploited and inhumanly treated in some of the world�s poor countries in
Africa, Asia, and Central and South America and the Islands. I must say
that there is no comparison on how children are exploited in such nations
compared to Ethiopia. Thus my criticism must be taken in the context of ideal
conditions whereby children are nurtured both in their mental and physical
growth. Poverty is devastating in any society. The exploitation of
children in poor countries is the most tragic reality around the world.
There is no natural correlation between poverty and poor manners. Here is
where religion is most acute to channel such young energy in the proper
direction of discourse and general interaction with other members of
society. Maybe such early instructions in morality and good behavior would
have saved us in contemporary times from the vulgarity we read in website
statements and chat-postings by a number of adult Ethiopians hiding behind
pen-names.
III. Ideologies of the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church and the Diaspora
The
Ethiopian Church in reality is two Churches in a single symbiotic format:
the dominant being the �Tewahdo�
or Hulet Ledet aspect that reaffirmed its authority and took ascendance
in our modern time from the time it was jointly declared as the official
doctrine for the Ethiopian Orthodox Church by Emperor Yohannes IV and King
Menilik at the Boru Meda Assembly of May 28, 1878 and thereby declaring Tsega
or Soset Ledet as a heresy. That fact was again hammered in By Emperor
Haile Selassie during the investiture of Patriarch Baslious. The two
leaders based their decision on the advice of a great many Church doctrine
scholars present at the Assembly and also based on an official letter sent
for the occasion by the Patriarch of Alexandria on the true interpretation
of the doctrine on the nature of the Christ because there was no Abuna at
the time. The tension from that resolution seems to have survived,
although never openly as a schism, to this day only manifesting itself in
the antagonistic feud that often accompanies the election of individuals
to high posts such as Abunas or Patriarchs. Usually Northerners [Gojjam,
Gondar/Begemder, Wollo, Tigrei, Eritrea] are identified with Tewahdo
and Southerners those specifically from Shoa from Debre Libanos were
identified with Soset Ledet.
For
example, the great Memher Akale Wold was banished by King Sahle Sellassie
of Shoa from Court because of his endorsement of the Tewahedo
doctrine against that of the Debre Libanos influenced doctrine of
Tsega or Soset Ledet favored by Sahle Sellassie, according to Professor
Getatchew Haile�s great book, BAHRA HASSAB (page 271). However, what I
overheard about Memher Akale Wold, who was from Shoa (Menze) and my
family�s patriarch, in discussions of my elders was slightly different
from Getatchew�s version. It was young Akale Wolde�s teacher who was
banished by Sahle Sellassie, and it is out of great loyalty and devotion
to his teacher that the young Akale Wold joined in the banishment of his
teacher from the Court of Sahle Sellassie. The young Akale Wold took care
of his aging teacher during the arduous and perilous journey from Angolela
to Gondar, and after. And this happened in the late 1830s, more than a
decade before the time of Tewodros. [Being a die-hard romantic, I prefer
my version, for I can imagine vividly in my mind the picture of a very
young student about twenty years old armed with nothing more than a stick
and his great love and devotion following into exile on foot his old
teacher on an uncertain journey of life. In those days a journey of that
distance through utterly wild country of dense forests, deep gorges,
torrential rivers, and wild beasts is a terrifying undertaking for mature
adults let alone a young man barely out of his teens.]
Memher
Akale Wold matured and excelled in his studies in Gondar and continued to
live in exile first in Emperor Tewodros�s Court and later in Emperor
Yohannes�s Court. The famous couplet attributed to Emperor Tewodros is illustrative
of how very highly Tewodros thought of my great grandfather. �Yimarutal
ende Akalie/ Yewagutal ende Gebrie.� [As scholarly as Akalie/ as
courageous in battle as Gebrie.] Memher Akale Wold was greatly honored and
respected by all three Emperors Tewodros II, Yohannes IV, and Menilik II.
He was appointed by Emperor Yohannes and later by Menilik as teacher and
doctrinaire for Wollo. He founded the great Boru Sellassie School of
higher learning that attracted numerous students from all over Ethiopia.
He died in 1919 and was buried in Boru Sellassie Cathedral. I added this
little known piece of Ethiopicana as a matter of testament how deeply I
feel for the unity of our remarkable Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
A
number of Ethiopians in the Diaspora, mostly political immigrants and
their issues (as their immigration papers would indicate), in the decade
after the early 1990s inadvertently seem to have mixed their political
opposition to the EPRDF with their hate with almost anything Tigrean
brought about in no small measure by the divisive leadership of Meles
Zenawi, with one result being their mistaken belief that Emperor Yohannes
IV to be the initiator and enforcer for the promotion of the doctrine of
�Tewahedo� as the prevailing
current doctrine of the Ethiopian Church. The target of their blind fury
seems to be that mistaken identification of the Church with the current
Patriarch�s ethnic background. Nothing could be further from the truth,
for the doctrine of �Tewahedo�
or Hulet Ledet for the present era was enforced by Emperor Tewodros
after his Coronation in 1855 by Abuna Selama. To that end, Ethiopia�s
distinguished historian Professor Sergew
Hable Selassie stated, �[T]his was the task [enforcement of Tewahedo]
undertaken by the Emperor Tewodros II. His reign inaugurated a new era in
the history of Ethiopia, in both a political and a religious sense. After
his coronation by Abuna Salama in 1855, he set out to reunite the divided
Kingdom and to restore Ethiopia to her ancient glory. A fundamental aim of
his policy was to put an end to religious controversy in the Empire and to
consolidate the Orthodox Faith. To this end, in 1855, he imposed the Tewahido
doctrine, propagated by Abuna Salama, as the sole doctrine to be allowed
in Ethiopia.� [emphasis mine] Tigreans before Tewahedo were much
influenced with that of Syriac Monophosite doctrine by the Nine Church
Fathers who settled in the area in the fifth Century having escaped
persecution after the Council or Chalcedon in AD 451.
As
further elaboration in order to add to our understanding of the subtle
doctrine of Tewahedo, I have
quoted here the learned statement in a book by Abuna Yesehaq,
one of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church�s great scholars of the
doctrine of the Church. �The first three ecumenical councils
Nicaea 325, Constantinople 381, and Epheus 431 which confessed the Son of
God as being of substance with the Father and condemned Arius' formula are
accepted by the Ethiopian orthodox Church, but the Church refuses to
accept the Council or Chalcedon 451 presided by Pope Leo I which teaches
the formula of the �two natures� against that of �one nature� the
teaching of St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria. The Ethiopian Church holds
that there were two natures before incarnation, but only one after the
union. The human nature was not dissolved in the Divine as Eutyches
taught. But rather, the Divine made the human nature immediately its own.
The word and the human constitute one nature, and union is established
without confusion and without division. The Church rejects the idea of
Eutyches, the monophysite who taught a confusion against the union of the
human by the Divine, which was regarded by (Dyophysite) theologians to be
the same with teaching of the Ethiopian Church and its sister Churches,
which was done without investigation and hence ignorance because Eutryches'
condemnation by St. Dioscorus is an evidence to the point. One can see
that the words, �dysophysite� and �monophysite� as fitting to play
a great role not between the oriental Churches which have nothing to do
with such phrases but between the Caldedonian and Eutyches himself. �
From the Brief History of the Ethiopian Church, Adapted
from THE LITURGY OF THE ETHIOPIAN CHURCH, by Archbishop Yesehaq, Addis
Ababa, 27th February, 1954.
This
limited historical vignette may explain the unusual degree of antagonism
toward the current Patriarch of the Ethiopian Church, Patriarch Paulos who
is from Tigrei. Patriarch Paulos started his spiritual journey as a deacon
at the ancient Monastery of Aba Girima (named after one of the Nine Syrian
Church Fathers) near Adowa. I am informed that the old Patriarch Merkorios
is from Gojjam, but as a matter of fact fully orthodox with the Tewahdo
schism. However, his predecessor Patriarch Teklehaimanot was from the
South. I may have made a mistake in trying to unfurl the Gordian Note of
the Ethiopian Church by suggesting unstated division on church dogma as
the source of the dissention and antagonism we find the Church Fathers
engaged in. For example, I know of no Church leader who openly as yet had
stated that he is the follower of Tsega
or Soset Ledet. However, there are subtle indications that the Synod in
exile may revive the schism between the Tewahedo
and Soset Ledet schisms that was
settled at Boru Meda. Abuna Zena Markos and others are from Debre Lebanos,
the stronghold but not necessarily the birth place of Soset Ledet doctrine, and it is very possible such leaders are using
the Diaspora population to promote such divisive agenda of schism. We need
to be careful when we talk of ideology or schisms in the context of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church, for these great Church Fathers value the unity
of Ethiopia above everything else, but their activities is undermining
that unity.
The
more important challenge facing the Ethiopian Church is its role in
shaping the personality of Ethiopians and the Ethiopian society. Such
highly desirable goals could be achieved through education and personal
examples of integrity and benevolence. However, it is very difficult to
trust such leaders when they stoop so low for their private struggle for
power to the extent of inventing stories and the distortion of the truth.
I have personal knowledge as to the facts of the sitting of the Synod that
elected Patriarch Paulos, because I was there at the time of the
background waltz that was being played out by the Church Fathers some of
whom in leading positions now in the �Synod in Exile.� As I stated
above, they are the ones who came up with the suggestion to have Patriarch
Merkorios retire or abdicate for reason of health problems.
At
any rate, the establishment of the �Synod in exile� is contrary to
Canon Law, and should not be given support as an institution even though
the member Abunas should be accorded the respect their offices represent
as part of the Ethiopian Ortodox Tewahedo Christian Church. The struggle is ultimately between the
supporters of Mengistu�s brutal government and his victims the followers
of Patriarch Tewophilos
who was brutally murdered by Mengistu. It also involves the followers of
Patriarch Tewophilos
such as the current Patriarch, Aba Paulos, who was imprisoned for years before he was allowed to
go into exile and finish his interrupted studies at Princeton. It is quite
ironic to watch Mengistu�s �Red Terror� participants and former Derg
officials once again engaged in vicious attack on the person of Patriarch
Paulos, a victim of Mengistu�s brutality, threatening to rend the Old
Church into two. Given such facts as our background, the excommunication
of the old Patriarch and the three Abunas should not come as a surprise to
us. In fact, what is surprising is the fact that the Holy Synod in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia, took this long from taking such action some years back.
Despite my sever criticism of the conduct of the �Synod in exile,� I
sincerely hope for reconciliation between all the Church Fathers in
Ethiopia and those in exile in the best tradition of the teachings of the
Christ! No Ethiopian benefits from such high profile fighting of Church
Fathers.
VI. The Congregation and Voice of Dissent
There
is much that we Ethiopians, both Christians and non-Christians owe to the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church. It is the one single force that was the glue that kept Ethiopia
from falling apart during all the past centuries of challenging existence
as a nation/state. The sacrifice paid by the Church Fathers throughout the
long life of Ethiopia is incalculable. For example, Fascist Italy during
the occupation period murdered all five Bishops of Ethiopia, including the
most articulate patriot and martyr Abuna Petros, who was from Wolaieta.
And in our own time, Mengistu Hailemariam brutally murdered Patriarch Tewophilos,
and further either killed or imprisoned under horrific conditions several
Abunas and priests. Therefore, my comment on the Church Fathers from
whatever segment is done with utmost respect and gratitude for all the
moral guidance they have given us all through the centuries. I always
remember my first teacher of the Ethiopian alphabet with great respect and
gratitude for I was lucky in having as a teacher someone quite different
than most such teachers for his gentleness and profound effect on my
struggle to be a virtuous person even though in real life I failed in a
number of instances to be an absolutely moral person.
It
is disconcerting to read in a vociferous Website, which owes its very
existence to the principles of freedom of speech and expression, an
editorial that censors discourse. The Ethiopian
Review�s Editorial of 7 February 2007 in no uncertain terms
admonished that certain named individuals should not express their views
on the activities of the �Synod� in exile that had recently appointed
several Abunas. I believe such monumental development of a possible schism
in a monolithic Church deserves discourse in public. In like manner,
constitutional and foundational democratic and individual rights
principles are being undermined by a number of Websites that ought to be
of great concern to us all. What is promoted in the Review is censorship of ideas and has no critical exposure of the
ideas of the individuals the Review
wants to silence�therein is the great problem for us freedom loving
people.
The
censored individuals named by the Review
are highly respected scholars and educators whose voice must be encouraged
to be heard rather than silenced. I may have disagreed with some of their
views in the past on issues of ethnicity and Ethiopian history, but I will
not even dream of censoring an iota of what they write or say for anything
and especially on questions such as the activities of a �Synod� in
exile. The Ethiopian Review
cynically stated, �Tagay Aba Dr Paulos is not
alone in his fight to discredit and crush the EOTC synod in exile. He is
joined by some �prominent� Ethiopians who claim to oppose Woyanne,
such as Drs Getatchew Haile, Aklilu Habte, and Almaz Zewde, among others.
EOTC followers may need to tell these doctors to back off. Let our
religious leaders handle the church affairs in the way they deem fit.�
Is such censorship an indicator of what people responsible for the Review would do to dissenting voices if they were in power?
I
know for a fact that individuals, such as Dr. Aklilu Habte, Prof.
Getatchew Haile et cetera, irrespective of their political ideology, along
with many devout Ethiopian Christians in the Diaspora that built several
Churches all over the United States and else where in the world from
scratch, are patriotic Ethiopians to the core not some fly-by-night
chameleons. [The fact of building of numerous Churches under adverse
conditions by itself tells us the greatness of Ethiopians as an ancient
people who value organized spiritual life for thousands of years.] I
cannot fathom the arrogance of a writer in a Website trying to dictate to
such respected Ethiopians his narrow perception of recent history in an
effort trying to shut up such distinguished Ethiopians from expressing
their views about the Church they built with their bare hands. After all,
whose Church are we talking about? The members of the �Synod in
exile,� whom one could cynically label as Mengistu�s Abunas (Bishops)
and Patriarch, simply manipulated the situation and are now taking over
the Churches built by Ethiopians who were, to begin with, victims of
Mengistu�s brutal government, later joined by the very people who
persecuted them as part of Mengistu�s regime now in exile after they
were driven out by the EPRDF. The �Synod in exile� has no legitimacy
and is a parasitic outgrowth of the political fallout between the EPRDF
and Mengistu�s brutal regime that murdered the Patriarch of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Emperor Haile Selassie and hundreds of
thousands of Ethiopians.
It
is this type of boundless antagonism and lashing out by Ethiopian
Review at individuals who seem to be in disagreement of a political
goal that undermine the legitimate struggle for democracy and change of
leadership in Ethiopia. To bring the struggle for power within a church
structure for our secular political purpose does mix unnecessarily what
should be kept separate: Church and State. I do not believe the type of
dissention by the Church Fathers in exile will advance the cause of the
Ethiopian people at all. They are not fighting to change fundamental
ideology or procedure, or to bring an acutely desired reform of the Church
in general. As a general observation, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is
frozen in time�a relic of the past of our medieval period of rituals and
dogmatism�it need be reformed, but not this way.
The
West through its literature, art, architecture, technology et cetera has
completely monopolized the Christian God and the Christian dogma as well.
The rest of humanity is like guests in someone else�s extensive estate.
Religion is worth something because of its content of ethical precepts. I
happen to believe as Kant did that the Universe is �fair,� and that
there is right or wrong moral decision, and above all that God is �a
necessary practical reason� for us as individuals and a community to
maintain. Religion provides us with an invaluable context to our
unfathomable fact of existence. Once we have started asking questions
about cause and effect, meaning and purpose, and wonder about ontological
issues, the genie is out of the bottle and must be provided with plausible
answers even if such answers are unbelievably devoid of truth and often
times nonsensical.
There
is inherent inequality created between insiders and outsiders in any
belief system if one distinct group of people worships any member of
another group as god or some super being. The most primitive group
identification is to claim a special connection with a super being as a
�chosen People� as is prominently expressed in Judaism and
Christianity. Nothing is more destructive and antisocial than such a claim
of uniqueness among all the peoples of the world. The claim of a special
relationship with a God necessarily puts such claimants above all other
human beings. Being an emissary to a super being elevates anyone to a
higher form of existence and degrades those not included in such embassy.
Conclusion
I
wrote in an article posted on 28 October 2005, �Politicus Ethiopicus,�
the quoted statement below that has become even more timely now than
before: �The deterioration of the moral and ethical content of our
nation, especially the wide spread of prostitution and the trafficking in
young Ethiopian girls and sending them into a life of prostitution and
bondage, cry out for strong moral leadership by the Church. Our Church
Fathers have no business soiling themselves in the type of dirty politics
being played out currently by Ethiopian politicians. They ought to focus
on providing spiritual and moral guidance to millions of Ethiopians, who
are truly a lost generation, through such turbulent times of great trial.
A nation losing its core ethical and moral gyroscope will soon find itself
drifting off into oblivion. The great historian, Toynbee warned us that
out of Twenty-one great world civilizations that were destroyed nineteen
of them were destroyed from within due to moral decay and collapse of
their social structure.� We are one of those few civilizations
that survived and must continue to do so.
No
less important, one must forget this foolish idea of secession or
independence as advocated by some �liberation� movements. For example,
the liberation of Tigrie, an old idea that was reincubated in the juvenile
mind of Meles Zenawi, which was rejected in the 1980s by the TPLF members,
is a good incident to remember. The fate of Tigreans or any other ethnic
group is tied to the fate of Ethiopia. Thus, fight for Ethiopia. No one
has any right of disfranchising for any reason any Ethiopian as an
individual or as a member of a group. On the other hand, I also believe
that the �opposition� specifically �Kinijit� must use this
swelling tide of rebellion against Meles Zenawi wisely and not alienate or
threaten any �ethnic� group.
The
first step in that direction is to clean the leadership of such opposition
organizations of all blood soaked individuals from the Derg, who are
stained through their closeness to the leadership of Mengistu and such
other organizations that committed atrocities and murder, or who are
suspected of direct involvement in the �Red Terror,� �White
Terror� and the Derg security apparatus. Most assuredly, we should never
drag religion to our political infighting. And the ongoing promotion by
some scholars and fanatics of the exclusive �unity� of �Amharas�
and �Oromos� against �Tigreans� in order to effect political
change is not a remedy either. All ethnic based political ideas are
destructive and must not be entertained as an alternative political
process for Ethiopia. The way to love Ethiopia is not through atomization.
God Bless Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo
Church! Ω
Tecola
W. Hagos
Washington
DC
February
18, 2007
PART
THREE
The
Tragic Presidency of George W. Bush and Its Impact on the World
PART FOUR
The Two Alternatives: The Vital Interests of
Ethiopia and the United States
�
Phineaus St. Claire, Wahington DC, February 18, 2007.
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