Ethiopia: Ethiopian church patriarch Abune Paulos ‘dies’
Controversial statue of Abune Paulos in A. A.
August 16, 2012 (BBC) - The head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abune Paulos, has died aged 76, an official has told the BBC.The news was confirmed by Mulugeta Aserate Kassa, an adviser at the Ethiopian embassy in Lo
ndon.He suffered a heart attack, according to opposition website Ethiopian Review.
No funeral details have been released, but Abune Paulos is expected to receive a state funeral. About half of Ethiopia’s population are estimated to be Orthodox Christians.
Mr Mulugeta told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme the patriarch had been “very healthy” on Wednesday, when he led a service in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
‘Pragmatist at heart’
He later fell ill and was rushed to hospital, said Mr Mulugeta, a close friend of the patriarch.
The patriarch died early on Thursday morning, he added.
Mr Mulugeta said he could not confirm the cause of death, but the patriarch had suffered from hypertension and diabetes.
Abune Paulos was chosen to lead the church in 1992 – a year after the overthrow of the communist government of Mengistu Haile Mariam.
“He brought the church in line to meet the challenges of the 21st Century,” Mr Mulugeta said.
“He was a pragmatist at heart.”
He was jailed under Mengistu and then went into exile in the US.
Critics accused him of being close to current Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who has also been ill recently.
Abune Paulos was the first person from the Tigray ethnic group – the same as Mr Meles – to head the country’s Orthodox Church, Mr Mulugeta said.
“He was loved by many,” he added.
–BBC
Samuel M. Gebru, pro-Ethiopian Government website has the following statement:
August 16, 2012
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
His Holiness Abune Paulos, 76, Patriarch and Catholicos of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, has passed away in Addis Ababa. The Patriarch was a brilliant person who presided over rough times of the Church of Ethiopia.
Patriarch Abune Paulos was a champion of many causes. Himself a refugee, the Patriarch fought for the unity of Christianity and passes away having most recently served as President of the World Council of Churches.
I have always admired His Holiness and was supposed to meet him this week at the Patriarchate in Addis Ababa. We were together a few weeks ago celebrating his 20th Anniversary as Patriarch of the Church of Ethiopia. I will always cherish his genuine smile and the cross he gave me.
My deepest condolences to his family, friends and the faithful of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It is particularly regrettable that the Patriarch passed away during this fasting season of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He did his doctoral thesis on the Assumption.
I pray that the Lord brings peace to the Church and Ethiopia.
–Samuel M. Gebru
(From Wikipedia) Patriarch Dr. Abune Paulos was born in Adwa in Tigray Province; his birth name was Gebre Medhin Wolde Yohannes. His family was long associated with the Abba Garima Monastery near the town, and he entered the monastery as a young boy as a deacon trainee, eventually taking monastic orders and being ordained a priest. Then known as Abba Gebre Medhin, he continued his education at the Theological College of the Holy Trinity in Addis Ababa under the patronage of Patriarch Abune Tewophilos. He was sent to study at the St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in the United States, and afterwards joined the doctoral program at the Princeton Theological Seminary.
Following the fall of the Derg in 1991, the then Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abuna Merkorios, was dethroned in circumstances that remain under dispute. Patriarch Abune Merkorios and his supporters maintain that he was forced from office by the new EPRDF-led government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and its supporters, while his opponents maintain that the Patriarch abdicated following numerous protests against him by the faithful. His attempt to reverse his abdication was refused by the Holy Synod of the Church which authorized a new Patriarchal election. Abune Paulos was elected in 1992, and Abune Merkorios and his supporters went into exile, establishing a rival synod in the United States. The enthronement of Abune Paulos as Patriarch is still recognized by all the canonical Orthodox Christian, and other canonical churches, and recognized by the Coptic Patriarchate in Alexandria, Egypt…..
This is indeed a divine intervention to punish criminals.Consider what God has done to the tigrean ruling class since the time they ceized power. First they faced brief fiercful resistance from OLF. Then they went into a fullfledged war with their own ally, Shabia. Next they are disected into two[Seye's vs Melles's TPLF]. Then more and more resistances from here and there. This year God started punishing figure heads of the state and the church. Waqayyoof Safuu! Waan hojjennu hundumaa irratti fedhii Waaqayyoo wajjin walsimsiisaa jaademnu! Qabsoo bilisummaas ta’u. Mirga ofiif finciluun cubbuu miti;akkuma sabni Israa’eel dur ammas ollaa isaanii faccisaa jiran. Garuu waan cubbuu fi yakka ta’e[shororkeessummaa] balaaleffachaa mirga keenya falmachuu qabna.
Balaan amma namoota TPLF qaqqabaa jiru kun tasa ta’aa jira moo yookin dhoksaatiin Woyyaanota summeessee qaama fixaa jirutu jira? Kun baay’ee nadhibaa/nadinqaa jira. Aadaa waara Habashaa keessatti qoricha/sammuudhaan walfixuun baay’ee kan barsiifatame dha. Kanaaf ilmaan oromoo jara kana wajjin nyaachuu fi dhuguu akkasumas hojii hawaasummaa ka biraa wajjin hirmaachuu irraa of qusachuu qabu.
Armaan olitti “sammuudhaan” inni jedhu “summiidhaan”jedhamee naaf haadubbifamu!
Jarri walfixxan maal dubbiin haaraan akkasi? Gowwan Oromoo abshaalummaa akkasii tokkollee hinbeekuu. Tafari Bokonnon akasumaa Zawudituu summii nyacisee Nugusa ta’ee jedhama. Safuu, safuu… hirmii tufaa!
Both Meles and Abune Paulos have died not because of natural death. They died because of the anger of the Almighty Waaqaa Oromoo Who blessed Qeerroo Oromoo to vanquish them. This evil man, together with his son Meles and other hungry locusts from Tigray(the heartland of Ethiopia), have dried burqaa Oromoo, killed and imprisoned tens of thousands of hayyuu Oromoos. Above all, they outlawed and banned Waaqeffannaa Oromoo of African indigenous religion.In banning Waaqeffannaa the role played by this devil patriarch of Ethiopia(=Amhara-Tigray country)is incalculable and can never be forgotten and excused. When they “finish” the Waaqeffannaa case, they turned to Muslims to ban Islam from Oromiyaa, but returned home with panic pain whose end result is dudden and slow death.
Anyway, evil doers are being panicked by the anger of Waaqaa Oromoo Who works through the righteous move of Qeeroo Oromoo right now. They are dying one after another. The question is, who will be the next evil man/woman whose panic death will be aired soon? Bareket Simon,Junedin Sado or Azeb Mesfin?.
Oromiyaan soil will eject to accept their dead bodies.
Pawlos head of TPLF branch of theology is dead, just few weeks after chairman of TPLF dead Meles ZinawiIt seems both heads of TPLF love to be one one grave. May their souls go to hell.
Amen
yes,Meles and Pawlos want to be in one grave but why Sebhat Nega wants to remain behind, may be he is waiting for Siyum Mesfin.
Dhagaa(statue) inni tolfate kunis diigamuun dirqiidha, akkuma warra kaanii! Innuumtuu Mallasaa waliin dhagaadha/dhakaadha, warra isa borii naanneffatee ilaaluu hin dandeenye.
God must be very stupid for Ethiopians. Tigre took power and were evil. Now, instead of God lifting the yoke of oppression on the people and giving them freedom, he chooses instead, to strike down the heads of the state and the church, but leave the oppression in place. God is really stupid and those who praise him for his stupidity are even more so.
Thank God that this self praising unpopular person has gone though after causing so many destructions within the religion, the values and social ethics of the nation.