ASIAN AND AFRICAN STUDIES, 7, 1998, 1, 87–104

FEATURES OF THE ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

AND THE CLERGY

Getnet TAMENE
Institute of Oriental and African Studies, Slovak Academy of Sciences,
Klemensova 19, 813 64 Bratislava, Slovakia

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has significantly declined since the disruption of her ally
the so-called “Solomonic Line” in 1974, when the last monarch was overthrown; nevertheless,
she still exerts strong influence on the lives of millions even without the support of her ally, the
State. Neither the divorce of Church-State relations, which culminated with the end of the
monarchy and introduction of Communist ideology in the 1970s, nor the trends of pluralistic
democracy-based currently flourishing Independent Churches, could remove away her influence
in the country. In fact, these events have threatened the position of this archaic Church and
made questionable the possiblity of her perpetuation, as can be well observed at the turn of the
century.

1. Introduction

Features of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Clergy is a topic de-
signed to give a historical overview of the Church, ecclesiastical establishment
and the process undertaken to develop Orthodox Christianity within the country.
The paper gives an analysis of one part of my on-going Ph.D. dissertation on the
history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, in relation to the country’s state sys-
tems.

1.1 Definition of the Terms Orthodox Church and the Clergy

The terms Orthodox Church and the Clergy, in this text, are terms inter-
waved to refer to one type of Christian religious institution (the Orthodox
Church) and the group of ordained persons (clergy) who minister in the Church.

2. The Place of Orthodox Church in Abyssinian Ecclesiastical History

The study of Ethiopian history has clearly indicated, that the history of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the history of one of the oldest Christian Church-

87
es in Africa,1 and is united with the historical development of the whole coun-
try.2 The Church and empire, though dissimilar institutions, were so united that
they were universally respected and feared as true sources of power and authori-
ty as well as of the national culture in Ethiopia.3 Churches and monasteries
though distinct from each other were often associated, for every monastery
housed at least one church, while many churches had monks attached to them. 4
The number of churches is immense, and their size varies from the little
round village churches, usually perched upon a hill, to large rectangular and oc-
tagonal buildings or modern cathedrals built in most of the centres of the coun-
try. The fact that number of churches is prolific and their frequent placing on
tops of hills or higher points, I think, indicates the significant position the
Church occupies. The most emphatic aspect which shows the place that the
Church holds maybe the monophysite principles. The monophysite doctrine,
täwahdo, has been so strongly and passionately defended in Ethiopia over the
centuries because it was felt to accord more closely with concepts of Old Testa-
ment monotheism5 and traces of Semitic culture and civilization which has in-
fluenced Ethiopian Christianity and the lives of the people. Thus it well attests
the key place the Church holds in the Ethiopian state systems and her crucial
role in the process of remoulding the history of what is now known as Ethiopian
society.

1 BAUR John, 2000 years of Christianity in Africa (Nairobi, 1992), p. 39; ATIYA Aziz s., A
History of Eastern Christianity (London, 1968), pp. 146-7; GERSTER Georg, “Searching out
Medieval Churches in Ethiopia’s Wilds”, National Geography, vol 138, No. 6, (1970), pp.
861 ff.; also see cf. GERSTER, 1968, 1974. For general accounts of Ethiopian history, culture
and church, see O’LEARY D., The Ethiopian Church Historical Notes on the Church of Abys-
sinia (London, 1936); HYATT H.M., The Church of Abyssinia (London, 1928); HARDEN J.M.,
An Introduction to Ethiopic Christian Literature (London, 1926); JONES A.H.M. and MONROE
Elizabeth, A History of Ethiopia (Oxford, 1935); TADDESSE Tamrat, Church and State in Ethi-
opia 1270-1570 (Oxford, 1972); Stevan KAPLAN, The Monastic Holy man and the Christian-
ization of Early Solomonic Ethiopia (Wiesbaden, 1984); Jean DORESSE, L’Empire du prêtre-
Jean, 2 vols. (Paris, 1957); Journal of Ethiopian Studies (Addis Abäba, 1963-); HASTINGS
Adrian, The Church in Africa 1450-1950 (Oxford, 1996), see in particular the Bibliography
pp. 625-639, 640-644, 647-649.; WONDMAGEGNEHU Aymro and MOTOVU Joachim, The Ethio-
pian Orthodox Church (Addis Abäba, 1970).
2 ULLENDORFF Edward, Ethiopia and the Bible (London, 1968), p. 15; ISICHEI Elizabeth, A
History of Christianity in Africa (1992), pp. 5-7; FREND W.H.C., The Christian Period in
Mediterranean Africa, c. A.D. 200 to 700, In: The Cambridge History of Africa, vol. 2, (1978),
p. 451 also see P ANKHURST Richard, A social history of Ethiopia (1992); T ADDESSE
Tamrat,”Ethiopia, the Red sea and the Horn”, In: The Cambridge History of Africa, vol. 3,
(1977), pp. 99-177; RUBENSON Sven, “Ethiopia and the Horn”, In: The Cambridge History of
Africa, vol. 5, (1976); DROZDÍKOVÁ Jarmila, Etiópèania (Bratislava, 1989).
3 ATIYA, p. 159.
4 PANKHURST, p. 29.
5 ULLENDORFF, pp. 87, 115.

88
 2.1 Historical Background

Ethiopia is an ancient polyreligious African country that boasts of rich tradi-

tions, and affinities of religious habits and culture. More than half its 56.7 mil-
lion (1996) population follow Christianity, fifty per cent of the inhabitants be-
long to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Orthodoxy being identified with the
Amhara and Tigray people, who inhabit the highlands of the country. In fact it
was later accepted by Christianized Oromos and other groups as well, after the
Church gradually expanded southward. Two per cent are Protestant and Roman
Catholic combined. About thirty five per cent of its population, who inhabit the
lowlands of the southern region, adhere to Islam, i.e. the stream of Sunni Mus-
lim identified with the Ethiopian Somalis, Afars, Islamicized Oromos, Bedjas
and others. The remainder of the population in the southern and eastern part of
Ethiopia practiced various indigenous religions. They adhere to traditional Afri-
can religion also known, by others, as ‘Animism’ which insists that all objects
have souls and can connect man with God. The Fälasha who inhabit the area
north of Lake Tana, and who remained after the airlifting of 1984-91 to the
State of Israel are repositories of a specific form of Judaism and contribute a
constituent part to the religious mosaic of the country.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is numerically the largest of the five non-
Chalcedonian Eastern Churches – the Coptic, the Ethiopian, the Syrian, the In-
dian, and the Armenian – which are by the historian Adrian Fortescue called
“The Lesser Eastern Churches”, but which others prefer to call “The Oriental
Orthodox Churches”, to distinguish them from the Byzantine Orthodox Church-
es. These Churches in their description of Jesus Christ, God-Incarnate, do not
use the controversial formula “Two natures in one person”, but adhere to the
older formula “One Incarnate nature of God the Word”, and have therefore been
accused of the heresy known as “Monophysitism”. Like the four other Churches
in this group the Ethiopian Church believes in the full Divinity and the true Hu-
manity of Jesus Christ and is, therefore, perfectly Orthodox in its christological
teaching as is also confirmed by A. Wondmagegnehu and J. Motovu in their
book The Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
The cross which had been planted in what is now called Ethiopia by Frumen-
tius was the sign of the Church, since 4th century, which proved the early advent
of Christianity to this ancient land. Later on, after the coming of Islam, the
Church with her cross became the rallying point for desparate and fiercely inde-
pendent highland people. Around her grew the Ethiopian empire, a Christian is-
land in a Muslim sea. It resisted wave after wave of Islamic assault, to persist
into our times.6 The Church has, thereafter gradually become fully indigenized
and has survived the forces which wiped out Christianity from within and from

6 GERSTER, p. 861 ff.

89
without, in other neighbouring areas.7 Hence, Ethiopia preserved its national
adherence to Christianity, in a highly distinctive form.8

2.2 The Contemporary Image of the Ethiopian Church in Africa and Abroad

The archaic form of Christianity which the Ethiopian Orthodox Church rep-
resents, dates back at least to the fourth century AD and is still exerting a pow-
erful influence on the lives of millions. It is a well known fact that this Church
has received the spiritual and theological traditions of the Orthodox Church
from its earliest days. In the long course of her history, the Church has been in-
digenized and has made the heritage which it thus received her own and even
developed it in a unique way against the cultural and social background of Ethi-
opia. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s uniqueness implies that she is not a
copy of either the Coptic (meaning Egyptian) or any other church in the world,
but original, i.e. the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia. She not only occupies a re-
markable place in the country’s history. The long history of indigenization of
the Church has enabled her to develop unique features which show that she is
more African.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church which has been thoroughly indigenized in
the course of a nearly two-thousand year long history of Christianity, attained
the status known as Ethiopianism, which is almost accepted as a contribution to
African cultural nationalism and particularism based on a self-conscious culti-
vation of African indigenous values and attitudes.
Ethiopianism is regarded as a nationalistic movement which is spreading
among African Churches. It was basically not a political but a religious move-
ment, expressing nationalistic aspirations in the Churches. The biblical source of
Ethiopianism comes from Psalm 68:31, “Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands to
God”. The prophecy nurtured the hope of all Africans, of future glory for the Ne-
gro race, and of a Christian theocracy embracing the entire continent.9
African Churches which were founded between 1880 and 1920, established
new religious organizations that were run by Africans10 as religious protest
movement based on the idea of Ethiopianism, commonly labelled “separatist”.
This was in essence an attempt to escape the most glaring aspect of white cul-
tural domination, i.e. religious domination, through the establishment of an Af-
rican black variant, often assuming the organizational forms of the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church.
One of the chief leaders of such idea was James Johnson (1832-1917), a
Yoruba member of the African Methodist Church of Sierra Leone that had been

7 NIWAGILA Wilson B., African Church History and Mission History, in Missionsge-
schichte Kirchengeschichte Weltgeschichte (Stuttgart, 1996), p. 51.
8 ISICHEI, p. 2 ff.
9 BAUR, op. cit. pp. 125-133 ff.
10 ULLENDORFF, p. 9; BAUR, pp. 125 ff.; ISICHEI, pp. 7-8.

90
founded by Black American settlers in 1821. He intwined religion and patrio-
tism as indicated by his motto: “God and my Country”. Moreover he attributed
the success of Islam to its use of African customs and institutions. Therefore, he
advocated the evangelization of Africa by Africans, and if by expatriates, then
best by Negros from America. Finally he was ordained and became a Bishop in
west Africa from 1900-1917.11
The other manifestation of Ethiopianism is the rise of Rastafarianism which
looked for religious inspiration to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. This reli-
gious revival of the “rastas” started in the Caribbean island of Jamaica in the
1930s. The name comes from Ras, meaning Lord and Tafari, the family name of
the Emperor Haile Selassie I, who ruled Ethiopia between 1930 and 1974.12 Fol-
lowers of Rastafarianism and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church enjoy common in-
terest in that both stick to the Old Testament rites. The former believe that Se-
lassie is Jah God, even though he died in 1975, and that they will eventually
find release from oppression in an African promised land, while the latter insists
he is anointed to rule as a King by God.
Repatriation is one of the corner-stones of Rastafarian belief. They insist that
they and all Africans in the diaspora are but exiles in Babylon, destined to be
delivered out of captivity by a return to Zion, that is Ethiopia, the seat of Jah, or
Africa, the land of our ancestors.
In fact, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is unique firstly for its isolation from
other Christian centres for quite a good number of centuries (except for loose
cooperation with the Church of Alexandria which profoundly shrunk with the
advent of Islam to Egypt in the 7th century).13 Secondly it preserves many an-
cient features on one hand and the strong influence of African traditional reli-
gion and Judaism on the other.14 This peculiar trait of religious syncretism
which is embodied by the Ethiopian Church offers her remarkable identity.

2.2.1 Efforts to improve the Church

The Church has been trying to come out of its isolation for a long time.
Some signs of this effort are its enrolment in the universal family of the World
Council of Churches, foundation of an Ethiopian branch of the Church in Amer-

11 Cf. BAUR, op. cit., pp. 130-132.

12 BRIGHT Martin, “Rastafarianism”, in: BBC English (London, 1994), p. 7 f; also see D.
ALLEN and R.W.J. OHNSON: African perspectives. Papers in the history, Politics and Economics
of Africa. Presented to Thomas Hodgkin. (Cambridge, 1970). The five essays in the section
“Colonial Misfortune and Religious Response” reveal a wide range of interpretations. See
specially POST’s, “The Bible as ideology: Ethiopianism in Jamaica, 1930-38” (pp. 185-207),
cf. Donald CRUMMER,” Shaikh Zäkaryas: an Ethiopian Prophet, in: Journal of Ethiopian Studies
vol. IX No 1 (Addis Abäba, 1971), note 6, p. 56.
13 HRBEK, I. ed., “ Africa in the context of world history” in: General History of Africa III.
(California, 1988), pp. 8, 12.
14 ULLENDORFF, p. 15.

91
ica which was consecrated by Aba Theophilus, archbishop of Harar province in
December 1959. Besides this, as the truly Christian outpost in the African conti-
nent, a more effective branch was established in Trinidad. Another important as-
pect of this effort is the translation of the Bible into the more intelligible Am-
haric which was done at the initiative of Emperor Haile Selassie I, who also en-
couraged sending of more theological scholars to Coptic institutions in Egypt.
The Theological College at Addis Ababa, founded towards the end of 1944, and
which has been enlarged under government auspices is part of the signs that
show the success of Ethiopian Christian Church.15 The College was interrupted
and it became largely impossible for the Church to expand its educational ser-
vice throughout the country, after 1974, when Ethiopia was plunged into a so-
cialist revolution,16 followed by the Marxist military dictatorship known as the
Derg. With the collapse of the Derg towards the beginning of 1991, the country
seems to have returned to normality and all the religions in the country seem to
have achieved equality based on the pluralistic principles of democracy. It thus
seems that dawn is breaking on the Ethiopian horizon, but a great deal of ad-
justment and labour are still necessary to preserve the custom of friendship be-
tween religions in the country in general and to bring this ancient and august
Church into line with the swift pace of modern developments in particular.

2.3 Church Buildings

Although the original basilica or rectangular and cruciform styles have been
preserved in a multitude of ancient churches, the Ethiopians have developed
their own peculiar octagonal or round churches, inspired by their conception of
the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.17 On the other hand, it has been asserted
that this may have purely a reproduction of the customary southern Ethiopian
habitation, which was circular.18
Style and church construction: three styles can be observed in the structural
pattern of Ethiopian church construction. The oldest Ethiopian churches (Däbrä
Damo, Aksum Zion) not only exhibit rectangular structure but a wood-and-stone
“sandwich” style of construction.19 The latest ones are either circular or octago-
nal style and are most familiar form of churches in Ethiopia. The countryside is
spotted with such churches. These churches are usually built on elevations and
with thatched roofs. The third type of Ethiopian churches is the historic rock-
hewn group founded by the pious monarch Lalibela (1181-1221) of the Zagwè
dynasty. Because of their monolithic character, architectural skill, massive di-

15 ATIYA, p. 166; BAUR, p. 401 ff.

16 Cf. BAUR, op .cit., pp. 401 ff.
17 ATIYA, pp. 59-60; PANKHURST, pp. 37, 38.
18 ATIYA, p. 160 f.
19 Cf. GERSTER, p. 865; MEKOURIA, T.T., “The Horn of Africa”: General History of Africa III,
p. 570.

92
mensions, carefully carved colonnades, arcades and vaulted ceilings, these
churches are considered by archaeologists to rank amongst the finest achieve-
ments in ecclesiastical architecture of any age throughout Christendom.20
Individual church status: there are three types of Church status in Ethiopia.21
The most common is church of venko (geter). A Farni church (däbr) has a
somewhat higher status, a däbr church is often situated around Imperial or Roy-
al capital and enjoyed the Imperial attention more than other churches, 22 and
married priests can hold service here. The third type of church which possesses
the highest status is called gedam. The church service here is carried on by un-
married priests and monks (menekusewoch).
Architecture of the Lalibela churches: the churches are sculptured from a
single block of tuff. Their exterior imitates the ancient Ethiopian wood-and-
stone “sandwich” style of construction.23
The Lalibela churches, eleven in number, possess the general air of ancient
Egyptian temples.
These churches have often been compared in their grandeur to the rock-
hewn temples of Abu Simbel in Nubia, of Petra in Jordan, and of Ellora in the
Indian state of Hyderabad – all monuments of singular exotic beauty, as they
were well portrayed by Atiya. Though carved from the live rock in the mountain
side, these monolithic structures were detached from the body of the mountain
by excavating deep trenches around each of them.
The roof was gabled or carved flat, cruciform or simple, invariably with an
attractive cornice. Afterwards, the craftsmen set themselves to hollow the interi-
or and to design extraordinary forms of architecture which could never have
been accomplished by normal building processes and techniques. Some church-
es had three naves, others five, with rows of impressive columns, capitals. Arch-
es, windows, niches, colossal crosses and swastikas in bas-relief and haut-relief,
decorative rock mouldings and friezes of geometrical shapes, apses and domes
– all these and other features have truly rendered the Lalibela churches enduring
monuments of Christian architecture in the heart of the African continent.24
Däbra Damo monastery: Däbra Damo is a monastery Gedam built probably
as early as the seventh century by Emperor Gäbrä Mäskäl and still standing atop
a plateau, or rather mountain peak, accessible only by means of the rope. After
building it, the emperor ordered the connecting staircase to be demolished. The
centre of the monastery is occupied by a church that is a jewel of Abyssinian
ecclesiastical architecture. Its stone and wood carving is exquisite. The panels

20 Cf. ATIYA, op. cit., p. 161 f.

21 Cf. PANKHURST, pp. 37-38; cf. ATIYA, p. 60; also see POLÁÈEK Zdenìk, “Etiopská ortodoxní
církev”, in: Nový Orient, 6 and 7 /93.
22 Haile Gäbriel DAGNE, “The Gebzena Charter 1894”, in: Journal of Ethiopian Studies, vol,
IX., No 1, (Addis Abäba, 1971), p. 74.
23 Cf. MEKOURIA, pp. 570, 572-3; cf. GERSTER, 1968, 1970, 1974.
24 Cf. ATYIA, p. 161.

93
of animal haut-relief and the geometrical friezes are reminiscent of specimens
to be found in early Coptic art. Its mural structure has the obelisk patterns of
Aksum. The use of massive wooden beams and stone in alternating horizontal
tiers lends an unusual charm to its outward appearance. The design of alternat-
ing layer of wood and dressed masonry with the distinctive protruding beams
called “monkeyhead”, dates from before the dawn of Christianity. Ethiopian ar-
chitects used the style for more than 1,000 years.25
Round the church, the monastic cells spread out in greater intimacy than in
most other monasteries. As a rule, Ethiopian monasticism is marked by severe
austerity and a tendency toward eremitism.26 It is estimated that there are about
850 monasteries in the country.27 The famous ones are Däbrä Libanos, Däbrä
Damo, Däbrä Bizen, Zikwala and the huge Ethiopian monastery in Jerusalem
called Däbrä Genet.28
Cave church architecture: another notable type of Ethiopian mediaeval ec-
clesiastical architecture is the cave church pattern. Of this type, the most fa-
mous examples are Imrahanna Kristos and Jammadu Mariam. The first was
built inside a tremendous cave in the Lasta Mountains by the Emperor who im-
parted his name to it after deciding to retire from the throne to monasticism. He
died and was buried in that church about the middle of the twelfth century. The
second was built by Emperor Yekuno-Amlak about 1268, also in the Lasta
Mountains, to commemorate the restoration of the line of Solomon with the
support of the great Ethiopian saint, Täklä Haymanot. All these and other simi-
lar monuments were probably built by anonymous monastic architects as an act
of faith.29
Church interior: the church building (bete krstiyan) in Ethiopia invariably
consists of three concentric rings: a square sanctuary (mäqdäs) or the Holy of
Holies (qdduse qddusan) is situated in the middle of the circle and is screened.
The Ark (tabot or tsilat) and its contents with its container or mämbära tabot are
treasured here. Only priests and the king can enter into this part of the church.30
Next to the qdduse qddusan comes the second part of the church (qddist).
This is an area reserved for those receiving Holy Communion. The rest of the
congregation stands in the outer ring, always barefooted, on the floor covered
with matting. This is the third part reserved for the choir and is called (kine
mahlet). Men and women are separated by a partition. Priests circulate in their
midst while praying, blessing and swinging their censers until the interior is

25 Cf. MEKOURIA, pp. 569-578; cf. GERSTER, pp. 880-1.

26 Cf. POLÁÈEK, 6 and 7/93.
27 ULLENDORFF, pp. 91-2.
28 Ibid., p. 15.
29 Cf. ATYIA, p. 162.
30 Cf. POLÁÈEK, 6 and 7/93; cf. ATIYA, p. 160; cf. PANKHURST, pp. 37-8.

94
filled with clouds of incense. The interior is decorated with wall paintings and
the usual icons.31
The Ark: the Ark and its contents have never been described in an official
Christian sources and is kept top secret (msttir). Muslim chroniclers tell us that
the hidden treasure in the case of the Cathedral of Aksum is a large white stone
inlaid with gold32 whereas in other churches the “tabot” appears to be an icon
carved from a convenient timber, as confirmed by the famous Ethiopian saying,
“a man is chosen for a post a piece of wood is likewise chosen for a “tabot”
(käsäw märttow läshumät käinchät märttow lätabot)”. The “tabot” is a model of
the Ark of the Covenant of the Old Testament. It is a flat block of wood, which
is blessed by the Bishop and carried on the head of the priests in important pro-
cessions wrapped up in coloured clothes. So the “tabot” is a sort of portable al-
tar, which might be described as a model of the tables of the Law which Moses
placed inside the Ark, and like them it usually has the Ten Commandments writ-
ten on it. The “tabot” rests on a cupboard-like container with an open cupola at
the top. Many Ethiopians still believe that the Church at Aksum contains the
real Ark of the Covenant.
The Cathedral of Aksum: the oldest Ethiopian church is of course the Cathe-
dral of Aksum, dedicated to Our Lady of Zion, in whose sanctuary the Mosaic
Ark is enshrined and where the imperial coronation took place.33 Though the
church itself has been burnt to the ground many times and its present structure
dates only from 1854, the ancient rectangular form of its building has been pre-
served. Erected on a raised platform with an impressive facade, three main en-
trances, some side chapels and a forbidden sanctuary, as scholars confirm, the
Cathedral is lavishly decorated with paintings from biblical scenes in the tradi-
tional Ethiopian style in which the artist has concentrated on the theme and
bright colours rather than on proportion. The central objects are the coming of
the Ark, the Virgin and the Infant Jesus, St George and the Dragon, and a picto-
rial record of the Nine Saints. As a rule, paintings were made on canvas which
was then pasted to the walls, in accordance with Abyssinian artistic techniques.
During the succession of invasions, the emperors craftily concealed the trea-
sured Ark, or tabot, and later reinstated it. Although all Ethiopian churches are
normally open to both sexes, the Cathedral of Aksum is an exception, since
women are not permitted to set foot on its floor. This rule dates from the time
when a former empress is said to have desecrated the building.34

31 PANKHURST, p. 167; LIPSKY, p. 109, quoted in: ATIYA, p. 160.

32 Cf. ATIYA, p. 161; DORESSE, p. 206, quoted in: ATIYA, p. 160; Eric PAYNE, Ethiopian Jews
(London, 1995), p. 17 ff., also see Deut. 10:5, 31:26 Heb.9:6 and 7, 2 Sam.6:14 to compare the
Ethiopian case with Old Testament rites.
33 Ibid., p. 160.
34 Cf. ATIYA, p. 160. The number of Ethiopian churches vary from author to author. According
to ATIYA they are estimated at 20,000, GERSTER insists 14,000 and POLÁÈEK recently reduced the
number to 2,000. If all types of churches are taken into account, then the number would reach
12,000, at an average.

95
 Number of churches and ecclesiastics: the country is estimated to have over
12,000 churches. Some villages have more than one church, and each of them
must have two ordained priests in addition to numerous däbteras and deacons.
On this assumption, the number of ecclesiastics throughout Ethiopia has been
estimated at approximately twenty-five per cent of the whole male Christian
population.35

2.4 Church Hierarchy, Priesthood and Administration

The departure from the former obedience to a Coptic abun, the consecration
of native Ethiopian bishops since 195936 and the establishment of a local native
synod for Ethiopia are modern nationalist trends which the pope of Alexandria
and patriarch of the sea of St Mark honoured with all the concessions which left
no room for doctrinal aberrations or dogmatic cleavage between the two great
native churches of Africa.37
The Ethiopian Church enjoyed immense prestige and its hierarchy, which
had great influence, was held in deep respect at both the national and local lev-
el.38
The Holy synod: the Holy Synod (kiddus sinodos) is the leading body of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church (ye etiyopia ortodox täwahdo betekrstiyan). It com-
prises the highest Church leaders (archbishops and bishops). The synod is re-
sponsible for religious matters and is chaired by a Patriarch (patriyark), who
pastors the Church. His full title is read: His Holiness... the Head of the Arch-
bishops and Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (bicú wä-kiddus
abune... ri-ise likane papasat wä-patriyark zä etiopia, abun... lit, “our father”, is
a title used before the name of the patriarch, the archbishops and the bishops
who represent the Church in the provinces as well).39
The council of churches is a body responsible for the administration of
churches in general.
The Abun (bishop): is the highest post in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church hi-
erarchy. He is the one who ordains those people who need to be ordained from
all over the country.40 The Abun can conduct every holy service. He is the only
authorized churchman to ordain the priests and deacons. He consecrates new
churches, altars (mämbäroch), and the tabot to give sanctity to the area where

35 Cf. ATIYA, p. 163.

36 Ibid., p. 157, 165.
37 Ibid., p. 165.
38 PANKHURST, p. 202.
39 Cf. POLÁÈEK, 6 and 7/93. The ge’ez term Abuna (Our father) is used as a title before the
bishop’s name. It is also used with the name of the patriarch and the archbishop. An equivalent
term Abba or the Amharic word Abbaté has a sense of my spiritual father and is used as a title
for priests. Also see BAUR, p. 39, cf.
40 PANKHURST, p. 34.

96
the tabot dwells. He also crowned the Emperor on accession until the coronation
of the last Ethiopian Monarch in 1930. The Abun’s political authority was ex-
tensive. He used to be a member of the State Council and the council of Regen-
cy. His jurisdiction is over the faithful, the priests, the deacons and all ministers.
In accordance with long-established custom, the Abun, or Metropolitan came
from Coptic Church of Egypt. The Coptic Abun shared power with two princi-
pal Ethiopian ecclesiastics: the Aqabé säat, an important churchman attached to
the palace, and the eèägé (ge’ez for elder) originally the prior of the great mon-
astery of Däbrä Libanons, and latter of the monks in general. The Aqabé säat, or
Guardian of the hour – a functionary dating back at least to the fifteenth century
reign of Bä’edä Maryam – acted for the Emperor in many matters of state. In
Alvares’s opinion the “second person” in the kingdom, he was to all intents and
purposes “a great lord”, and travelled like the Abun with a great many tents.
The Eèägé: is head of the monastic communities,4l or council of Churches.42
He ranks next to the Abun in the hierarchy and is peculiar to the Ethiopian
Church. According to Alvares, he was almost equally important, and was “the
greatest prelate” after the Abun.43
The tradition of placing a Coptic monk from Egypt at the head of the Ethio-
pian Church which had started when Frumentius was consecrated for the new
diocese, remained in force as a custom until the agreement of July 1948 liberat-
ed the Ethiopians from the bond of an Egyptian abun, and Aba Basileus was
consecrated at Cairo on 28 June 1959 by Pope Cyril (Kirollos) VI, as the first
Abyssinian patriarch, in the presence of Emperor Haile Selassie.44
After getting autocephalous status the latter post is also held by an Ethiopian
bishop Abun, patriarch. He is the chief Ethiopian ecclesiastic who is appointed
from among, and installed by the laying on of the hands of two or three bishops.
The Patriarch in turn ordains the bishops and the priests. Ordination is of two
levels, highest and lowest. The highest level is that of the Abun, patriarch, while
the lowest level of ordaination is that of a priest (kés) and deacon (diyakkon).
They are consecrated by the patriarch.
The priests: the priest can perform all the holy services but he is not autho-
rized to ordain. The way he dresses is also dissimilar from that of the bishop.
The priest is dressed in white in daily life, and only the shämä, thrown over his
shoulder, has an embroidered edge of subdued colours. His turbans are also
white, unlike those of bishops, whose robes are identical with those of their
Coptic peers in Egypt, which are entirely black. When officiating, however, the
Ethiopian bishop uses a snow-white silk turban decorated with crosses in gold
thread, whereas the Copt wears a mitre or a jewelled crown.45

41 Ibid., p. 35; cf. ATIYA, p. 158.

42 Cf. POLÁÈEK, 6 and 7/93.
43 Cf. PANKHURST, p. 35.
44 ATIYA, p. 152.
45 Cf. PANKHURST, pp. 36-7; ATIYA, p. 165 cf.

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 Abunä késis is an additional title to a priest who is supposed to evaluate the
activities of deacons.
Likä kahnat is the head of all ecclesiastics. He claims he is bestowed upon
by the holy spirit the right of observing and judging disciplinary matters of the
group.
Archpriest (Gäbäz) appears between the priest and the bishop in the hierar-
chy. He is more responsible to protect the tabot, the church, and church proper-
ties including land.46
Nubräid is an important title offered by the bishop through laying hands on
the head of recruits who are supposed to lead the temple of Mary in Aksum and
the Church of Addis Alem in Shoa. The latter was founded by Minelik II in
1902 as the “southern” equivalent to the Temple of Aksum.47
The deacon or deaconawit (female) whose main task is assisting all church
services comes at the bottom of the hierarchy.

2.4.1 The däbtära and their unique position in the hierarchy of Ethiopian Church

The däbtära occupy in the Ethiopian Church an intermediate position be-

tween the clergy and layman. Though the däbtära are not ordained, no service
can properly be held without their presence. It is their chief duty to chant the
psalms and hymns. The professional class of däbtära appear to be very much
closer to the duties with which the Levites were charged.
According to Ullendorff the two-fold division of the Israelite priesthood is
paralleled in Ethiopia by the categories of Kahen and däbtära. The office of the
latter is in most respects comparable to the tasks entrusted to the Levites, partic-
ularly in their role as chantors and choristers.48
Similarly the däbtära look after the administration of the larger churches and
their musical and liturgical requirements. Gerster Georg tells us his experience
about the däbtära: “...one day I stood through an hour-long service with the
debteras, and like them, I held a sort of crutch clamped under my arm as a sup-
port. The debteras are a class of non-priests unique to the Ethiopian Church.
They are experts in reading and liturgical song and are administrators of the
church’s traditional wisdom. Once, when with aching feet I wondered aloud
why the faithful must remove their shoes before entering an Ethiopian church,
an elderly debtera with the look of a Biblical patriarch countered with the ques-
tion, and would you tread on the toes of the angels who crowd a church during
services?, his turbanlike temtem, the standard headpiece of debteras and mar-

46 Cf. Haile Gäbriel DAGNE, p. 74.

47 POLÁÈEK, 6 and 7/93 cf. The hierarchy is: Patriarch, Archbishop, Bishop (regional),
Episcopos, Archimandrite, Priest, Deacon, sub-Deacon and Debtera. See WONDMAGEGNEHU, cf.
p. 39.
48 ULLENDORFF, pp. 91-2 cf.

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ried priests, shadowed his face, I could not see his eyes well enough to know
whether he winked”.49
They are trained in the study of Amharic and Ge’ez, but their attainments in
the latter in particular are apt to vary widely. They undergo instruction in poetry,
sacred hymns (kiné), songs (zéma), dancing and rhythmical movement (akkwak-
wam), and at least in theory, also in the Bible, the Fetha Nägäst and canon law.50
They study spiritual subjects longer than priests, devoting about 20-30 years
of their life time to acquiring religious knowledge. Ritual dances that are con-
ducted by the däbtära at times of important religious ceremonies are accompa-
nied with cultural musical instruments such as the drums of different sizes
(käbäro, nägarit), which are made of a hollowed-out tree-trunk, good to indicate
rhythm, and sistram (sänasel). The co-conductor of the dancers who stands on
the left hand side of the church is known as gra géta and on the right hand side
stands the main co-ordinator märí géta. Out of churches, the däbtära also per-
form magical rituals, astrological activities, and provide amulets and medicines
prepared from various herbs to scatter demons and to avert disease.51 One of the
oldest Ethiopian books the awdänägäst (a book of astrology and medicine)
written in Amharic, whose author is still unknown, is dedicated to such healing
practices of the däbtäras. These notable survivals of magical practices and
prayers in Abyssinian Christianity, after combining a pagan substratum with a
hastily and belatedly superimposed layer of divine invocations or references to
the Virgin Mary and the Saints, are probably derived from the old Cushitic pa-
gan beliefs or from the ancient East where demonology and magic craft were
widespread. This attitude of superstitious and magical practices which is com-
mon among the däbtära puts them somewhere on the margin of Christianity in
the hierarchy of the Ethiopian churches.

2.4.1 Monastery Hierarchy

Besides the Churches, the monasteries which are governed by the rules de-
rived from St Antony and St Pachomius of Egypt,52 serve as a centre for reli-
gious life and cultural tradition. They are open for people who are not engaged-
deacons, widowed priests and all who ignored the worldly life, these are the
monks known as mänäkuséwoch. They submit a commitment of three standards.
Those who belong to the first group possess a girdle (kinat), the second holds a
hood (kób) and the third will have scapulary with twelve crosses (askema). An-
other sign of these monks is the T-shaped crutch (mäkkwamya) and a coat made
of leather (daba). The leader of a monastery is the mämhir – teacher, and his
deputy is the afä mämhir. The mägabi is responsible for food distribution and

49 GERSTER, p. 877.
50 Cf. ULLENDORFF, p. 92.
51 Ibid., p. 79; ATIYA, p. 158 cf.
52 Cf. ATIYA, p. 152; HYATT, pp. 31-2; DORESSE, pp. 64-81.

99
for the property of the monastery. The ardit is the one who is in charge of the
monks. Those monks who did not submit any commitment and live in isolation
from the community are called bahtawiyan.53

2.5 Doctrines of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church

The Ethiopian monophysite Church, like other Eastern Churches, i.e. the
Coptic, Syrian, Armenian and Indian Churches, is strictly dedicated to the
monophysite doctrine. According to the Ethiopian monophysitic doctrine in the
personality of Christ reveals one divine nature (bahriy), which arose due to ab-
solute merging (täwahido) of the natures of God and man. The reason for the
frequent mention of the word täwahido in the title of the Ethiopian Church is to
indicate her monophysite belief.54 Although, the Christological doctrines ac-
cepted at the council of Chalcedon (451), condemn monophysitism as a heresy,
the Ethiopian Church piously acknowledges it with deep devotion.55 In fact the
traits of Judaism are predominant in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. On the
other hand parallels with the Churches in the East are also greatly observable.
The Church rather uniquely embodies traits of different Christian areas instead
of assuming a single place of origin.

2.5.1 Point of later controversy within the Church

The subject of polemics within the Ethiopian Church over the last three cen-
turies was the way by which Christ was able to become the son of God. The
controversy continued over the last three centuries, resulting in the emergence
of two different schools of thought. The disciples of the first school known as
tsägawoch defended the idea of Christ becoming son of God by the Grace (tsä-
ga) and the followers of the second school (kibattoch) insisted that it became
possible by the anointment of the Holy Spirit (kibat). This dispute is still con-
tinuing.56

2.5.2 Church practices

Like her sister Churches of the Orient the Ethiopian Church also recognizes
seven sacraments of the Christian Church.57 The administration of the sacra-
ments include baptism, confirmation, holy communion, penance, matrimony,
unction of the sick and holy order.

53 POLÁÈEK, 6 and 7/93 cf.

54 POLÁÈEK, 6 and 7/93 cf.
55 ATIYA, p. 153 cf.
56 Cf. POLÁÈEK.
57 WONDMAGENGEHU and MOTOVU, cf. pp. 31-39; POLÁÈEK, cf.

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 Baptism (timkät): is difficult service requiring the presence of several priests
and deacons. The process takes place by submerging a person in water three
times. The priest says “I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit”, after which he makes the sign of the cross as a bless-
ing.58 A male is baptized on the fourtieth day of his birth and female on the
eightieth. On this occasion the child is given a Christian name according to the
synaxar, he or she will also get a God father or mother respective to their gender
and a special coloured thread (mahtäb) is tied around the neck to announce that
the child is baptized.
Confirmation (kib atä méron) takes place immediately after baptism. The
majority of members often fail to keep their confirmation principles.
Holy Communion (qurban) is received by ritually clean people, such as
small children and a few devoted adults who are strongly related to church ac-
tivities. The bread and wine (siga wä dämu, lit. his body and blood) are pre-
pared by the deacon from dried grapes and water before each service in a sepa-
rate house called bétä lihäm, which is situated near the church. Bells ring and
believers, prostrate themselves when the Holy Eucharist is in procession. It is
believed that the bread and wine are changed and remain flesh and blood until
they are completely consumed. Communion is consecrated and given on the
same day. Believers go and communicate in the church. In the case of the very
sick, the priest takes communion to those who are near; for those who are far he
consecrates communion in a tent.
Penance (nisha) is the Sacrament in which a Christian receives, through the
mediation of the priest, forgiveness of sins on repenting and confessing them to
the priest. It does not demand the regular attendance of believers. If a member
is too weak to see his confessor (yä-näfs abbat), the confessor, who is also his
priest, will pay him a visit at his residence. The process takes place as persons
confessing prostrated themselves at the feet of the priest, who was seated, and
accused themselves in general of being “great sinners and having merited hell”,
without descending to particular sins they had committed. After this the priest,
holding the Gospels in his left hand, and a cross in his right, touches, with the
cross, the eyes, ears, noses and mouths of the penitent, recites prayers over him,
and makes several signs of the cross over him, gives him penance and dismisses
him.59
Matrimony (teklil) is the holy service through which a man and a woman are
united and given the divine grace that sanctifies their union, makes it perfect
and spiritual like the unity of Christ and his Church, and gives them strength to
abide by the contract which mutually binds. This is done by the marriage pro-
cession ceremony known as siratä täklil, held in the presence of both partners,
in the church. This church marriage is also called Communion Marriage be-
cause the couple are married by communion; they receive Holy Communion

58 PANKHURST, pp. 41-2.

59 Cf. PANKHURST, pp. 41-2.

101
during the wedding Mass. The priest takes the man’s hand and places it in the
hand of the woman, blessing them with the sign of the cross. The bride is re-
minded that wives are subject to their husbands. The ceremony is completed
with a nuptial Mass in which both parties receive the sacrament. According to
this principle, which is now-a-days less binding, divorce or remarriage is per-
mitted only if one of the partners departs by death. Otherwise it can be inter-
preted as adultery. Unlike the civil laws which recognizes customary and civil
marriage, the Church recognizes but one marriage, religious marriage, which is
solemnized with a nuptial Mass or wedding Eucharist. This tie is binding and
should it be broken by divorce excommunication follows automatically, com-
munion is no longer given to the parties either guilty or not, because they are
held to be impure. Church marriage generates strong monogamic relations and
is known as the “Eighty Bond” with a woman.
Anointing of the Sick (kendil) is a service offered to persons who are on their
death bed. It is a proccess by which sin is cancelled before the person dies. The
ceremony takes place either in the church or at the person’s home. It is a Sacra-
ment through which the priest anoints the body of the sick asking for divine
grace to cure both body and soul. The healing power is not attributed to the oil
but to the prayer. The oil with which the sick is anointed is consecrated. Those
who consecrate it according to the words of the Gospel and the Apostle James
(Epistle 5:14,15), are the ministers. The manner of consecrating this holy oil is
contained in the book called “The Book of the Lamp” (Mäshafä Quendil) in
which there is written a portion of the Gospel and of the Epistle of the Apostle
James.
Holy Orders (qdus kehnät) is a sacrament through which an ordinand re-
ceives authority to administer the sacraments and conduct other religious ser-
vices. The bishop by the imposition of hands confers on the fit chosen persons a
portion of grace appropriate for the ecclesiastical office to which they are
raised. Not ordained man cannot celebrate the Eucharist or perform any office
of a priest. Degrees of the Holy Orders include the major and minor orders. The
major ones are that of the episcopate, priesthood and deaconate, where as the
minor ones include those of subdeacons, deaconesses, anagnosts or masters of
ceremony, singers, door-keepers and others. A bishop is consecrated by the lay-
ing on of the hands of three bishops or two, saying prayers of consecration.

3. Conclusion

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, in which Jewish and Christian traditions

are blended into one indissoluble whole is one of the most remarkable features
of the syncretic Abyssinian civilization.60 The Old and New Testaments and a
number of apocryphal books unknown to other Christian Churches are used.
Besides these, the kbrä negäst (the honour of kings) which is of purely Abyssin-

60 ULLENDORFF, p. 135.

102
ian origin and was compiled, in 14th century, to lend support to the claims and
aspirations of the Solomonic dynasty, is also acknowledged as a repository of
Ethiopian national and religious feelings.61 It is obvious that the Ethiopian Or-
thodox Church has retained Judaic elements such as the tabot, hospitality to
strangers, circumcision of a boy eight days after birth, priestly dances with
drums and the concept of clean and unclean meat. If an Amhara or any ortho-
dox member of the Ethiopiaan Church wishes to eat meat he will almost cer-
tainly slaughter it himself, making sure that all the blood is drained away. Never
would he eat what a man of a different faith has slaughtered, nor any meat
which the Old Testament calls unclean. The Amharas have never derived these
from the Copts of Egypt who eat pork for instance, which suggest that such
prejudices must be of Jewish origin earlier than the fourth century. Like the
Jews of old an Amhara prefers never to eat with any man who is not a Christian
and like them he will also fast twice a week. He will also keep various monthly
feasts according to his own calendar, which is based on the ancient Egyptian
one, and starts with New Year’s Day in September (as with the Jews and
Greeks) and with New Year thought and customs which are Jewish in origin.
The Coptic Church in Egypt is more Arab than African, and has been for too
long subservient to a Muslim Government to do much more than survive. The
Ethiopian Church, on the other hand, is clearly African and free, yet ancient and
non western in origin. The western sort of Christianity itself has conquered
much of Africa south of the Sahara Desert, but its appeal to the people is limit-
ed because it has been interpreted to them by western missionaries. It demanded
reinterpretation by Africans to give it a deep meaninig. A few Judaic elements
cannot prove that the Ethiopian Church is not Christian. Inspite of a few Jewish
similarities she remains quite Christian, indigenized and more African.
The country’s considerable adherence to religious and secular education as a
solution to the problems of progress did not, however, have enough results, even
today as in the past.
Habits on one hand and modern institutions that appear around as a contrast
on the other has brought both the Ethiopian Church and the Ethiopian society of
a bygone era face to face still with the stark realities of a new and changing
world.62
In fact the Church has great merit for resisting both the anti-Christian forces
and the colonizing aspect63 of European Christian missions over the last centu-
ries having been able to preserve her identities up to the present time. This has
lifted the Church to the position of an example at a regional level bearing the
concept of Ethiopianism.
Inspite all her achievements, the way of reform always becomes inevitable
for the Church. As the result of limitations imposed upon the religious activity

61 Ibid., p. 75.
62 ATIYA, p. 165.
63 ATIYA, pp. 150-151; NIWAGILA, pp. 50-51.

103
of foreign missionaries, both Protestant and Roman Catholic or other “Indepen-
dent” Churches of modern times also had no significant impact on the native
Church in the past. Their very existence within the country, however, has
aroused the request of young Ethiopians for ecclesiastical reform. Of all Ethio-
pian monarchs in history, Haile Selassie is said to have worked, to educate his
people and to cope with the forward march of modernizing influences, though
without breaking away from time-honoured tradition.63 He was succeeded by
the Marxist military regime in 1974. The communist ideology of the new mili-
tary government soon resulted in anti-religious pressure exerted on officials and
Church leaders: the patriarch and eight bishops were deposed and the extensive
lands of the Church nationalized. Individual priests suffered harshness and
some churches were closed.64 After the downfall of the military government in
1991 the Church seems to enjoy relatively more freedom based on pluralistic
democracy. But analysis of the fragile social, political, religious, economic and
cultural issues of the country still raises challenging questions to the oldest
Ethiopian Church and its future survival as a repository of Ethiopian national
culture as we approach the beginning of the twenty-first century.

64 Cf. BAUR, op. cit., p. 401; cf. ATIYA, p. 166.

104