The Standing Conference of the Oriental Orthodox Church (scooch) expressed its concern and sadness at the decision of “what remains of the Holy Synod of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church” to declare Patriarch Antonios a heretic and to excommunicate him.
This decision, which the Standing Conference describes as carried out “at the behest of the Eritrean Government”, should be reversed and the Patriarch restored because his excommunication was “without a formal ecclesiastical trial at which His Holiness might offer a defense against the charges offered.”
The statement was made in a letter the Conference addressed to “All of the Bishops, Priests, and Faithful of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church.” (See Tigrinya translation of the letter below)
The Oriental Orthodox Church includes the Orthodox Churches of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Egypt, Syria, Armenia and India and is estimated to have 60-70 million members.
Although the letter was signed by all the standing conference members, including Ethiopia, over a month ago, it was not publicized or issued as news: it was simply filed in the scooch website.
The reason for this is unclear.
Eritrea’s Patriarch Antonios was arrested in 2006 for refusing to excommunicate Orthodox Tewahdo members at the behest of the Eritrean Government. In retaliation, the government ordered the Synod to depose of him, which it did, and then he served 13 years under house arrest.
Two years ago, the government, facing intense criticism from human rights institutions, relaxed the terms of his arrest by allowing him to attend church services. But it continued to maintain that this was an intra-church dispute that had nothing to do with it. Nonetheless, in anticipation of its joining the UN’s Human Rights Council, it allowed him to have visitors for the first time.
Earlier this year, one of his visitors interviewed him, on video, about the conditions that led to his arrest and the Patriarch was unsparing in his criticism of the Synod which, in violation of Church laws and traditions, deposed him for, among other reasons, his refusal to allow a government-appointed layperson, Yiftahe Demetros, oversee the day-to-day activities of the Church.
Shortly after the video was publicized, on July 17, the Synod issued a strongly-worded letter declaring him a heretic and excommunicating him from the Church. The communique, which was signed by 5 of the 6 archbishops which make up the Holy Synod, threatened severe punishment for anyone who utters Patriarch Antonios name.
The government-directed punishment of Patriarch Antonios appears to be one of a series waged at almost every religious institution in Eritrea since it came to power:
- The 1994* arrest/disappearance of Muslim teachers and Sheiks,
- The 1994 denial of citizenship to Eritrean Jehovah Witnesses for refusing to participate in National Referendum or mandatory military service,
- The 2002 decision to require, and then ignore, registration forms from churches collectively known as Pentecostals or, derisively, “Pente” (Mehrete Yesus Presbyterian Church, Faith Mission Church, Seventh-day Adventists, Kalehiwot, Full Gospel, Mesert Cristos, Tinsai, Philadelphia, Rhema Church) and Baha’i;
- The 2017 decision to confiscate the private school of Muslim community in Asmara;
- The 2019 decision to confiscate all health centers of the Catholic Church of Eritrea.
Due to the Government’s heavy intervention in the affairs of religious institutions, all of the “minor” Christian faiths collectively called as “Pentecostals” must worship in secret risking frequent arrest and torture and most of the “major” ones either have no Mufti or Patriarch and/or their properties and endowments have been confiscated.
While SCOOCH in general and the Ethiopian Tewahdo Church in particular have chosen to use a low-key approach, the United States has taken a different path. In mid-July, at the 2nd Annual Religious Freedom Ministerial, US Vice President Mike Pence chose to highlight Eritrea’s Patriarch Antonios as one of four victims of global government restriction on religious freedom (speech) and demanded on the Eritrean government to set him free.
Tigrigna translation of the letter the Standing Conference of the Oriental Orthodox Church sent to the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church:
ቀዋሚ ጉባኤ ኦርተዶክሳዊት ቤተክርስትያን
ሓምለ 23 2019
ናብ ኩሎም ኣቡናት ኣቕሽሽቲን ኣመንቲ ቤተክርስትያን ተዋህዶን
ኣብ 17 ሰነ 2016 እቲ ኣነ ዝተካእክዎ ፕረዚደንት ናይዚ ጉባኤ ነበር ኣቡነ ጳጳስ ኻጃጅ ባርሳመይን፡ኣብታ ቤተክርስትያን ዘሎ ከቢድ ምክፍፋል ከብቅዕን ብጹእ ኣቡነ ኣንጠንዮስ ናብ ሃዋርያዊ ዙፋኖም ክምለሱዮም ብዝብል ዉዕዉዕ ተስፋ ብስም ቀዋሚ ጉባኤ ኦርተዶክሳዊት ቤተክርስትያን ብሞት ጳጳስ ኣቡነ ዲያስቆሮስ ናይ ሓዘን መልእኽቲ ሰዲዶም ነይሮም።
ብገምጋም ድሕሪ ሓደ ዓመት ኣቢሉ: ኣብ 12 ሰነ 2017 ኣቡነ ጳጳስ ኻጃጅ ንብጹእ ኣቡነ ኣንጠንዮስ ዘሎና ዘይንቕነቕ ደግፍን ጸሎትናን ደጊሞም ብምግላጽ: ነቲ ንቤተክርስትያን ዘሰይጥን ንዘሎ መሪር ምጉጅጃል ኬብቕዕን ኣቡነ ኣንጠንዮስ ድማ ናብቲ ግቡእ ዙፋኖም ኪምለሱን ደጊሞም ሓቲቶም።
ብተመሳሳሊ መንፈስ፡ ቅዱስ ሲኖዶስ ብመምርሒ ናይ መንግስቲ ኤርትራን ናይቲ ዓለማዊ ክንሱ ብላዕሊ ኮይኖም ዝእዝዞም ኣካልን፡ ንኣቡነ ኣንጠንዮስ ምውጋዙን ከም መናፍቕ ምኹናኑን ከምዘሻቕለናን ዘሕዝነናን ንገልጽ። እዚ ኣብ ልዕሊ ኣቡነ ኣንጠንዮስ ዝተገበረ ኩነኔ ብዝበዝሑ ዲያቆናትን መንበረ ስብከትን ኣመንቲ ተዋህዶን ተቐባልነት ከምዘይረኸበ ኣጸቢቕና እንግንዘቦ ኢዩ። እቲ ውሳነ ኣቡነ ኣንጠንዮስ ነብሶም ዝከላኸሉሉ ሃይማኖታዊ ፍርዲ ዘይነበሮ ብመንግስቲ ኤርትራ ዝወረደ ድንጋገ ኢዩ።
ኩሎም ንቤተክርስትያን ዝምልከቱ ጉዳያት ብመስርሕ ናይቶም ፓትርያርክ ብዘይ ሃይማኖታዊ መስርሕ ፍርዲ ካብ ስልጣኑ ክእለ ከምዘይክእል ዝጠቅስ ዓንቀጻት ዘለዎም ንኹላትና ዝእዝዙ ቤተክርስትያናዊ ሕግታትን ቅጥዕታትን እምበር፡ ንሓደ ዓለማዊ ኣካል ተማእዚዞም ኪኸዱ ከምዘይግባእ ነዘኻክር።
ስለዚ ብኽብረትኩም ወሲድኩሞ ዘለኹም ስጉምቲ ኣብ ቤተክርስትያንና ኬምጸኦ ዝኽእል ከቢድ ሳዕቤን ኣብ ግምት ኣእትዉዎ።
ምስ ፍቕሪ ናይ መድሓኒና ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ፡ ቀዋሚ ጉባኤ ኦርተዶክሳዊት ቤተክርስትያን
ኣቡን ዳዊት
ፕረዚደንት ቀዋሚ ጉባኤ ኦርተዶክሳዊት ቤተክርስትያን ኣሜሪካ
ኣቡነ ኮፕቲክ ተዋህዶ ኒዮዎርክን ኒዩ ኢንግላንድን
ፈጻሚ ፓትርያርክን ኮፕቲክ ኦርተዶክስ ሰሜን ኣሜሪካ