June 19, 2013

Ethiopia elects new leader for Orthodox church

BY: AP Staff Writer FEBRUARY 28, 2013 | MODIFIED: FEBRUARY 28, 2013 AT 2:02 PM
Leave a comment
Photo -   New leader of Ethiopia's orthodox church Abune Matias, 71, center, is seen after being elected in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. Ethiopia's orthodox church on Thursday elected Matias as the 6th Patriarch of the church officially known as the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, an influential body in the predominantly Christian nation. (AP Photo)
New leader of Ethiopia's orthodox church Abune Matias, 71, center, is seen after being elected in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013. Ethiopia's orthodox church on Thursday elected Matias as the 6th Patriarch of the church officially known as the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, an influential body in the predominantly Christian nation. (AP Photo)

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia's orthodox church has elected a new leader of the influential body in the predominantly Christian nation.

Abune Matias, 71, was Thursday named the 6th Patriarch of the church officially known as the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

Abune Matias, currently serving as Archbishop of the church in Jerusalem, accepted the appointment.

The election comes amid disputes surrounding the leadership of the powerful church, which boasts of some 40 million adherents, and a long history of conflict with the central government.

The Ethiopian church was under the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. In 1959 it broke away to be independent and started appointing its leaders.

View article comments Leave a comment

More from washingtonexaminer.com

From the Weekly Standard

  • Frack to the Future

    Williston, N.D.

    Read More...
  • Downsize Ike

    The beleaguered Eisenhower Memorial Commission holds its next public gathering later this month, and before its members duck-walk into the hearing room, huddled in a hoplite phalanx against a...

    Read More...
  • The Lesson of Kermit Gosnell

    What was the lesson of the Kermit Gosnell trial? Since the Philadelphia doctor was convicted last month of murdering three born-alive infants, two competing viewpoints have emerged.

    Read More...