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Abune Merkorios(bornZe-Libanos Fanta;14 June 1938 – 3 March 2022[1]) was an Ethiopian bishop and thefourth Patriarchof theEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church,elected after the death ofAbuna Takla Haymanotin May 1988. Merkorios remained Patriarch for three years until 1991, when theEthiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front(EPRDF) overthrew the Communist military junta known asDerginAddis Ababa.[2][3]After spending almost three decades living in exile, he was allowed to return to Addis Ababa and be recognized as Patriarch alongsideAbune Mathias.[4]
Merkorios | |
|---|---|
| PatriarchandCatholicosof the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church | |
| Native name | አቡነ መርቆሬዎስ |
| Church | Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church |
| Appointed | 1988 |
| Term ended | 2022 |
| Predecessor | Abuna Takla Haymanot |
| Successor | Abuna Paulos(5th) Abune Mathias(6th) |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | Holy Trinity Cathedral |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ze-Libanos Fanta 14 June 1938 |
| Died | 3 March 2022(aged 83) Addis Ababa,Ethiopia |
| Nationality | Ethiopian |
| Denomination | Oriental Orthodox |
| Residence | Addis Ababa |
Early life
editKnown before his elevation to the episcopacy as Abba (Father) Ze-Libanos Fanta, he was born into the minornobilityofBegemder Province.He was considered something of a liturgical expert, and served for many years atHoly Trinity Cathedralin Addis Ababa. Abba Ze-Libanos was raised to the rank of Bishop by Patriarch Abuna Takla Haymanot in 1976 over his home province of Beghemidir (then known as Gondar Province), taking the name Merkorios. Abune Merkorios served as Archbishop of Gondar until he became Patriarch of Ethiopia in 1988. Abune Merkorios' tenure of Archbishop of Gondar included the period known as the "Red Terror" in Ethiopia, and which was carried out with particular brutality in the town and province of Gondar under the governorship of Melaku Teferra, a particularly notorious member of theDerg.Abune Merkorios would later face accusations of not only having kept silent during the horrors of the "Red Terror" in Gondar, but of having a particularly close relationship with Governor Melaku. In a sign of the favor of the Derg regime, in 1986, Abune Merkorios was appointed one of a very small and select group of clergy to serve as a member of the Shengo, the national parliament set up by the Derg when it proclaimed thePeople's Democratic Republic of Ethiopiathat year. He remained a member of the parliament until his enthronement as Patriarch. These allegations of closeness to the Communist Derg regime helped undermine the Patriarch, when theEthiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front(EPRDF) came to power.
Abdication and exile
editAbune Merkorios was ousted by EPRDF regime in 1991, particularly on the orders of then Prime Minister Tamrat Layne. He was followed on the throne of the Ethiopian Church byAbune Paulos,the fifth official patriarch of the church, although many Ethiopian churches in the diaspora continued to recognize Abune Merkorios as Patriarch in opposition to Paulos.[3]The following year he fled to Kenya, later relocating to the United States in 1997, where churches had begun to secede from the synod in Ethiopia following the leadership ofAbuna Yesehaq.These churches formeda synod in exileand eventually both synods were mutually excommunicated.[4]
Efforts to heal the threatened schism had shown promising results through late 2011 and early 2012. However, the sudden deaths of both Patriarch Abune Paulos and Prime MinisterMeles Zenawicaused efforts to slow down as the synod in Ethiopia went through a leadership transition. During the reconciliation negotiations, the synod in exile insisted that Abune Merkorios be allowed to resume the Patriarchal throne, something that neither the synod in Ethiopia nor the Ethiopian government was willing to consider. With the election ofAbune Mathiasas the 6th Patriarch of Ethiopia on 28 February 2013, reconciliation talks were ended for the time being.
Reinstatement
editWith the encouragement of the newly elected EthiopianPrime MinisterAbiy Ahmed,reconciliation talks between the two rival synods began anew, and on 27 July 2018 representatives from both synods reached an agreement.[4]According to the terms of the agreement, Abune Merkorios was reinstated as Patriarch alongside Abune Mathias, who will continue to be responsible for administrative duties, and the two synods were merged into one synod, with any excommunications between them lifted.[5]
On 1 August 2018, Abune Merkorios entered Ethiopia for the first time in 26 years, flying together with Ethiopian Prime MinisterAbiy Ahmed.
On 4 March 2022, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced Abune Merkorios' death, thus ending the dual patriarchy after four years.[1]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ab"Unifying Patriarch of Ethiopian Orthodox Church dies".Yahoo! News.AFP.4 March 2022. Archived fromthe originalon 24 March 2022.Retrieved5 March2022.
- ^Tolera, Assefa (4 April 2017)."Interrogating Religious Plurality and Separation of State and Religion in Ethiopia".Eastern Africa Social Science Research Review.33(1): 39–72.doi:10.1353/eas.2017.0002.ISSN1684-4173.
- ^abHaustein, Jörg; Østebø, Terje (November 2011)."EPRDF's revolutionary democracy and religious plurality: Islam and Christianity in post-Derg Ethiopia"(PDF).Journal of Eastern African Studies.5(4): 755–772.doi:10.1080/17531055.2011.642539.S2CID59042446.
- ^abcDickinson, Augustine (31 July 2018)."Decades-Old Schism in the Ethiopian Church Mended".Ethiopicist Blog.Archived fromthe originalon 7 May 2021.Retrieved8 August2018.
- ^Kibriye, Solomon (27 July 2018)."Ethiopian Orthodox Unity Declaration Document in English".Orthodoxy Cognate Page.Retrieved8 August2018.