War violence and domestic violence: Understanding the relationship and linkages with forced migration and religious beliefs

Project dldl/ድልድልPRO

Please, see the video here.

According to the Statista Research Department, in 2019 there were 158 violent crises, 71 disputes, 23 limited wars and 15 wars in the world. In November 2020, a new conflict erupted in Tigray region, northern Ethiopia, the main sites of project dldl/ድልድል, which works to support the development of religio-culturally sensitive approaches to addressing domestic violence in rural Ethiopian Orthodox communities. The eruption of the war raised an urgent need to pay attention to violence experienced in political conflict and war trauma, along the associated implications for domestic life and family relations in conflict-affected communities. This webinar will present preliminary results from an ongoing scoping literature review that was initialised since the war outbreak to identify the evidence on the relationship between political violence and domestic violence, with a particular interest in identifying intersections with religious parameters where these have been reported.

Political violence is often marked by extensive sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), torture, forced conscription or recruitment to fight, forced displacements, migration crises, and emergencies such as hunger, all of which affect the individual mentally, physically and materially, and also alter personal relationships with others and subsequently affecting entire communities. The effects of political violence may be conceptualised as continuous, adding to structural, communal and domestic forms of violence and amplifying the overall detrimental effects and intergenerational consequences of violence. The second part of the webinar will explore SGBV in forced migration, as long-term consequences of political violence, proposing a continuum of vulnerabilities across the forced migrant journeys and discussing complex intersections with religious parameters.

The webinar aims to inform current humanitarian efforts to support forcefully displaced populations in Tigray. The webinar can also benefit practitioners working in other conflict and displacement contexts. Humanitarian responses to SGBV must consider how political violence intersects with structural, normative and psychological parameters and seek to support affected groups in ways that can prevent further abuse in domestic and communal life post displacement.

Presentations

The relationship between political violence and domestic violence: Some preliminary results from a scoping literature review
Dr Romina Istratii and Teklu Cherkose (on behalf of project dldl/ድልድል)
While the relationship between political violence and domestic violence received limited attention historically, this has changed in recent decades and new evidence has emerged that suggests direct associations between exposure to political violence and an increased likelihood of victims/survivors and perpetrators experiencing or resorting to violence in the domestic sphere. Reviewing close to100 studies suggests a multi-dimensional mechanism through which political violence can affect rates of domestic violence, such as through mental health trauma affecting victims/survivors, direct effects on the behaviour of soldiers and veterans, or the breakdown of structures and support systems that would otherwise be available to victims of domestic violence in peace time. The ongoing review suggests that religious parameters have received minimal attention in the existing scholarship, and should be better integrated when appraising alleviation strategies in conflict , post-conflict contexts and displaced populations.

SGBV experiences in forced migration, religion and intersectional vulnerabilities
Sandra Pertek, University of Birmingham
As political violence intensifies SGBV in conflict and triggers displacement, it is important to account for its long-term impacts. Drawing upon the interviews with 23 Levantine and 15 Sub-Saharan forced migrant survivors of war and SGBV residing in Turkey and Tunisia, this presentation argues that religious factors intersected with multiple inequalities and vulnerabilities, shaping survivors’ experiences. With high levels of structural and interpersonal violence, many war survivors were trapped in abusive and exploitative relationships experiencing an intersectional continuum of SGBV pre-migration, in conflict and transit and refuge. Religious constructs intersected with patriarchal violent disorder in war and limited protection in displacement. Interventions and research might consider accounting for intersecting religious influences to mitigate SGBV effectively.

 

Restricting religious practice in the era of COVID-19: The case of the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahәdo community

 

By: Elias Gebrselassie[1] and Dr Romina Istratii

5/5/2020

[1] Email contact: eliasgebrselassie@gmail.com

OODE - ኦርቶዶክሳዊ ትምህርተ ዶግማ መድረክ
ENGLISH TEXTS - በእንግሊዝኛ

This essay follows the publication of an article that Dr Istratii contributed to the Political Theology Network on the 15^th of April under the title “Restricting religious practice in the era of COVID-19: A de-westernised perspective on religious freedom with reference to Greece.” Motivated by similar concerns, the current essay takes a closer look at restrictions affecting religious practice in the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahәdo community, where measures to respond to the public health crisis have become increasingly more rigid. While the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahәdo faithful comprise a unique community, they share various elements with their counterparts in Greece, including the deeply intertwined relationship between religious tradition, historical consciousness and personal identity, which means that the faith is prominent on all realms of life. The essay discusses what the prohibition of religious practices might imply for the Church and the faithful, including material and spiritual implications, but also by restricting the activity of the clergy in society. Our objective is to bring these implications to the attention of the Ethiopian government in an effort to ensure that current efforts to contain the spread of the virus in the country are sensitive to the people’s religious living. 

 

Like many states in the world, the Ethiopian government promptly responded to contain the spread of the virus outbreak in its territory by forbidding large public gatherings, including those of a religious nature. The latest state emergency declaration forbids gatherings of more than four people, which has meant that many among the faithful have been unable to continue their religious life as per norm. In some urban centres, such as the capital city Addis Ababa, measures have been most rigidly applied, with believers being turned away if they venture to attend church services. The ban of any gathering over four people should, technically, deem infeasible the sacraments of Baptism, Chrismation, Holy Communion, Holy Matrimony and some funeral services that are typically executed by five people within the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahәdo ecclesiastical tradition. In effect, the ban has been enforced with variability, with many churches continuing Sunday liturgies behind closed doors while livestreaming to the faithful, and some even serving the Holy Communion to a few laypeople if they are able to enter the church’s premises. 

In similar ways to Greece, prior to the introduction of this prohibition and in the early days of the virus outbreak in Ethiopia, the Standing Holy Synod of the Church stipulated that church services should be administered by a reduced number of priests and deacons, asking the faithful to stay home. Given the faith’s prevalence in the everyday life and consciousness of the Orthodox Täwahәdo community, even this decision raised some concerns, especially since a significant number of adherents had fasted very rigidly during the Great Lent and expected to conclude it with the Holy Communion. Such responses might have motivated a letter by the Ethiopian Patriarch to the government asking for the Holy Communion to be allowed on Good Thursday and Easter day (ref. no ል/ጽ/462/15/2012 EC). While restrictions on religious practices were maintained, this brief interlude generated speculations that the initial response of the Standing Holy Synod had been guided by the government, which would suggest an unconstitutional interference. It is important to note that Ethiopia upholds the separation of state and ‘religion,’ albeit these being intertwined in complex ways. 

Ethiopia’s federal sub-division has meant that regional governments responded to the virus outbreak in variable times and ways. The Tigray government, for example, was the first to introduce a state of emergency in late March, passing a series of decisions that forbade large gatherings, such as weddings and mourning ceremonies, although these did not include any explicit stipulations about church services. In Aksum, where Orthodox Christianity was officially embraced in the fourth century, churches remained open, with attendees following social distancing rules to prevent the spread of the virus. In other places of Ethiopia, including Addis Ababa, the faithful were essentially forced to follow the Church worship during the Holy Week on television. Photos from the past few days show that churches in the capital are being draconically guarded by police to discourage the faithful from entering. In parallel, incidents such as the reported looting of a church (photo below), have caused added concern among the faithful.

                                     

(Images of offering boxes belonging to churches, looted of the money they contained) Source:  https://m.facebook.com/

 

Although implemented in non-uniform ways across the country, restrictions to religious life are expected to have important implications for the Church and the faithful, which need to be recognised and carefully addressed by government in parallel to implementing measures to contain the virus. As in the case of Greece, the history of Ethiopia has been closely interwoven with the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahәdo Church (EOTC) and tradition, although the historical association of the faith with the ruling class has resulted in unique dynamics in multi-religious Ethiopia. Among the Orthodox Täwahәdo adherents, religious conscience and historical consciousness are to a degree inseparable, and together these largely determine the faithful’s sense of identity and belonging. Similar to the Orthodox in Greece, and perhaps to a larger degree in Ethiopia, participating in church services has been part of daily activity and folklore culture. Many of the faithful consistently take part in the weekly Divine Liturgy, although this has been historically preserved to those that the Church considers to be bodily and spiritually pure, primarily children and the very young, the married and the very old. The Eucharist is often described by the faithful as medicine or ‘food’ for Eternal Life. The children and the youth typically join the weekly Sunday school programme after the liturgy, although religious education has been weakened in recent decades due to the expansion of governmental education and other forces of modernization. Most people have a spiritual father since childhood and throughout their adult lives, whom they meet frequently in the church premises or in their homes when priests visit for the regular religious gatherings. These are only a few of the ways in which the Church is integral to people’s everyday lives, demonstrating a faith with clear existential dimensions.

 

The role of the Church in society and the impact on the faithful

It was mentioned in the previous essay that the Orthodox Church in Greece  expended in 2018 over 121 million euro in philanthropic services, supporting the poor and homeless, single mothers, foreigners and migrants, families with many children, and other vulnerable groups, such as individuals with substance abuse and victims of domestic violence, by means of soup kitchens and ‘agape meals’, shelters, orphanages, endowments and other services and facilities. It was not possible to retrieve equivalent numbers for the EOTC but it is well-known that the Church has been involved in its fair share of philanthropic work. Given the decentralised structure of the EOTC, this has been delivered through the work of local churches and priests, monasteries and monks and nuns and the alms and contributions of the faithful, including the offering of meals in church, monasteries and during religious gatherings. Some monasteries in Ethiopia might be contributing even to sustainable livelihoods in the surrounding communities. 

It is understood that the current restrictions have already interfered with this philanthropic activity (although, they have certainly not impeded it), reducing the alms collected by small churches and monastic centres across Orthodox Ethiopia. Many of the churches rely on the financial contributions collected from the faithful to operate and to pay salaries to the clergy, whom they might be unable to reimburse at this time. Within EOTC ecclesiastical tradition, clergy must marry before becoming priests, which means that priests have dependents to care for. Curtailing the salaries of priests, especially priests outside of urban centres who have lower salaries, could threaten the wellbeing of their usually large families as well. It should also be considered that there are many other individuals who depend on Church-related activities to make a living, such as people who sell candles, incense or other ecclesiastical necessities typically outside of churches.

Beyond these material implications, one must consider the psychological effects and the impact on the pastoral activity of the clergy that such a rigid prohibition might have on the faithful. In Ethiopia, it is not unlikely for Orthodox believers to visit their spiritual father when they face life challenges or problems. When the faithful fall sick, but especially when sickness is sudden and cannot be medically explained, Orthodox Ethiopians will normally ask for prayers to be said on their behalf and will seek to wash with holy water. From the perspective of dedicated adherents, visiting holy places (e.g. monasteries) is central to maintaining emotional, spiritual and physical wellbeing. Moreover, the clergy are often at the forefront of mediating family problems and community conflict. Dr Istratii’s research in Aksum found that the local clergy were often at the frontline of dealing with issues of conjugal conflict and even family violence, which in most cases they tried to address with sensitivity to the victim’s predicament, despite often contributing via their own discourses in the continuation of certain rigid norms around the conjugal relationship. The influence of religious discourse on societal norms was found to be complex and non-uniform, but it is indisputable that the religious tradition has been potent in local mentalities, attitudes and vernacular life.  

A full and genuine assessment of the effects of restricting church activity would also have to consider the more positive impact that faithfulness, and church attendance in particular, might have on the individual, the family and society overall. Already, since the virus outbreak and the imposition of lockdowns, evidence of a rise in mental health problems and domestic violence incidents has been reported across the world. Domestic violence is not necessarily the outcome of this close cohabitation, but becomes more acute and threatening where it exists. This is especially pertinent to Ethiopia, with almost one in three women having faced some type of spousal abuse in their lifetime. Previous studies from North America show that Church attendance can improve intimate relationships, while faithfulness (and specifically Orthodox beliefs) is associated with attitudes of forgiveness and conflict resolution. The study that Dr Istratii conducted in Aksum seemed to consolidate this relationship, with the majority of female research participants affirming that going to church and observing the sacraments made their husbands calmer and more considerate towards them. The implied associations between religious activity, faith and human behaviour in intimate relationships should be understood better and considered in state-led strategies to contain the virus outbreak and to reduce the possible side-effects of the lockdown. 

Mission and migrancy

Khanya, 2015 (orthodox christian blog from South Africa)

Today I had a visit from three priests, and we had an interesting discussion on mission and migrancy.
Fr Ciprian Burlacioiu is a Romanian priest based in Munich in Germany, and is doing research into mission and migrancy. He has recently completed a monograph on the African Orthodox Church in South Africa, and his current research project grows out of that.
Fr Diliza Valisa and Fr Mthuthuzeli Thompson are priests in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Fr Diliza is writing a history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in South Africa, and I am editing it for him to help him get it ready for publication.

 

Mthuthuzeli Thompson, Ciprian Burlacioiu, Diliza Valisa, with the holy icons of the Lord 

& (I think) St. Kosmas Aitolos, the New Hieromartyr and Equal-to-the-Apostles

Cipian himself is in a situation of migrant ministry — his parish in Munich caters mainly for migrant workers from Romania, who are there to make money and possibly go home, so the church is not the highest priority in their lives.

Mthuthuzeli Thompson

Mthuthuzeli Thompson is in a similar position. The bulk of the congregation are migrants from Ethiopia. They have their Sunday services at 6:00 am, and it’s all over by 8:30. Most of the congregation are businessmen, and they have to be at work by 9:00. The South Africans complain that the services are too early. By the time they wake up on a Sunday morning the service is over.
Fr Diliza Valisa commented on the fissiparousness of South African Christianity. No one knows exactly how many different Christian denominations there are in South Africa, but there are well over 10 000.The Ethiopian Church in South Africa sprang from the Ethiopian Church founded by Mangena Mokone in Marabastad, Pretoria, in 1892. It was a breakaway from the Wesleyan Methodist Church. It united briefly with the African Methodist Episcopal Church of the USA, and then a substantial fraction under James Mata Dwane joined linked to the Anglican Church as the Order of Ethiopia, and it continued like that for 70 years, when it weas decided that the Order of Ethiopia should have its own bishop. 
Unfortunately they could not agree who should be elected, so the choice fell to the Anglican Synod of Bishops, who chose the Revd Sigqibo Dwane, the grandson of the founder. He was not a popular choice, however, because he had not grown up within the Order of Ethiopia himself, and so there were numerous splits. One group, under the Revd Ephraim Hopa, who had been the Provincial of the Order, made contact with the Church of Ethiopia, and united with it, so completing Mangena Mokone’s vision of 90 years before, of an indigenous African Church that was older than most of the European churches that had sent missionaries to Africa. But even then there were splits, as people wanted to be leaders on their own account, and that in turn led us to a discussion of married bishops.

Fr Ciprian Burlacioiu

Many of the clergy who left the Ethiopian Orthodox Church did so because they wanted to be bishops, and as bishops in the Orthodox churches have to be monks, and therefore unmarried, they saw no future for themselves and left to start their own denominations. Mthuthuzeli Thompson said that in part that was a cultural thing. In Xhosa culture, in particular, an unmarried man is still a child, and his opinion does not count. The idea of an unmarried man being a church l;eader therefore does not fit, and people find it difficult to respect an unmarried bishop.
Fr Ciprian Burlacioiu said that his original research into the African Orthodox Church indicated that Christianity had spread in many p0arts of Africa through migrancy. Migrant workers went to the diamond mines at Kimberley (where the AOC started) mainly in order to earn money to buy guns. But in the course of working in such places they came into contact with the Christian faith in various forms, and then took it back to the places where they lived, and thus the Christian message spread though largely informal channels of migrant workers.
He is here to do more research into this, and after our discussion, he and I went to the national archives so he could follow it up, but unfortuately the power was off at the archives, and so we could not go there. That is rather sad, as he is only here for a limited time, and it seems that one of the places where he was hoping to do research may not be available.
Ciprian also commented on the recent influx of refugees from war-torn Syria into Germany. Some have said that they are economic migrants rather than refugees. Ciprian said that there are also large numbers of economic migrants in Munich — many from Greece.
On Sunday he joined us in our service at Mamelodi, and as it was the bfeast of St Michael and the Angels, he spoke a little about the angels. And even there, though the people in the congregation have lived in town all their lives, they still gregard “home” as a rural area somewhere in the region of Polokwane or Tzaneen. So migrancy persists for a long time, and the church has not really come to terms with it.

St Michael and all the Bodiless Powers of Heaven, 

celebrated in a house church in Mamelodi East

Anyway, we had an interesting conversation, and here I am trying to write down what I remember of it before I forget completely, like Boswell recording the converstions of Samuel Johnson. But if anyone reading this knows of any research resources that might be usefulo for Fr Ciprian’s migrancy and mission project, please let him know. You can contact him at ciprian.burlacioiu@gmail.com

See also

Orthodox Ethiopia (tag)
OODE - ኦርቶዶክሳዊ ትምህርተ ዶግማ መድረክ // Amharic Eastern Orthodox website
Moses the Ethiopian, the Black Saint & Teacher (& other Ethiopian saints in the Orthodox Church) 
"Oriental Orthodox" 

 
The Orthodox Church in the Republic of South Africa  
Orthodox South Africa (tag)  

Afrikaans Ortodoks 

Orthodoxy in South Africa before and after Apartheid 

Stephen Hayes, A children’s novel about apartheid

Mamelodi (South Africa) : Christina Mothapo’s funeral 

A spiritual trip to South Africa in 2010!

African Initiated Churches in Search of Orthodoxy...

OODE - ኦርቶዶክሳዊ ትምህርተ ዶግማ መድረክ // Amharic Eastern Orthodox website

እባክዎን ጠቅ 

OODE ምንድነዉ？

OODE የኦርቶዶክስ ክርስትና ሃይማኖትን አስተምህሮዎች ለማጥናት፣ በማስረጃ በማደራጀት ተደራሽ ለማድረግና ለኅትመት (ለንባብ) ለማብቃት የተዘጋጀ የኤሌክትሮኒክ መድረክ ነው። መድረኩ በተለያየ የዕድሜ ክልልና የሥራ መስክ ላይ በሚገኙ ለኦርቶዶክሳዊ አስተምህሮ መስፋፋት (ለወንጌል መሰበክ) ቅድሚያ በሚሰጡና ጊዜያቸውን ኦርቶዶክሳዊ ትምህርቶችን ለማጥናትና ለዓለም ለማድረስ በሚያውሉ ግለሰቦች የሚዘጋጅ ነው እንጂ በቀጥታ ከየትኛውም አጥቢያ ጋር ግንኙነት የለውም። OODE ምንም ዓይነት የገንዘብ ድጎማም አያገኝም፤ የኢንተርኔት ወጪና አንዳንድ ክፍያዎች የሚሸፈኑት በአባላቱ ነው። የጥናት ውጤታቸውን የሚያጋሩና በትርጉም ሥራ የሚሳተፉ አባላቱ በሙሉ ሁሉም በሚጋሩት የኦርቶዶክስ ሃይማኖትን ለመጠበቅ ባላቸው ተናሣሽነት በነጻ ፈቃድ የሚሳተፉ ናቸው።

OODE የተለያዩ ኦርቶዶክሳዊ ትምህርቶችን በየጊዜው እያዘጋጀ ለንባብ የሚያበቃ መድረክ ነው። ይህ የኢንተርኔት ድረ-ገጽ በአሁኑ ጊዜ በሰባት ቋንቋዎች ማለትም በግሪክኛ፣ ፈረንሳይኛ፣ ጀርመንኛ፣ ጣልያንኛ፣ሮሜንያኛ፣ቱርኪኛ ና ፋርሲ የተዘጋጁ ድረ-ገጾችን ይይዛል። የአማርኛ ድረ-ገጹ እንዲኖረው የተደረገበት ምክንያትም ለኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተክርስቲያን እምነትና ትውፊት ካለን ቅርበትና ዕውቀት የተነሣ ነው።

የኢትዮጵያ ክርስቲያኖች ከቅድመ-ኬልቄዶን ጀምሮ የነበረውን ጥንታዊ ሃይማኖትና ትውፊት ክርስትና በአዋጅ የአክሱማዊው ሥርወ መንግሥት ሃይማኖት ከሆነበት ጊዜ አንሥቶ በጥቂቱ ለ፲፻፮፻ ዓመታት ጠብቀው አቆይተዋል። የሮማ መንግስት  ግዛት ከመስፋቱና ለኢትዮጵያም ቅርብ ስለነበረ እንደ ድልድይ ሆኖ ከግርክና ስርያ ክርስትና አገናቸዉ። ቤተክርስቲያኗ ከቅብት ቤተክርስቲያን ጋር የእኅትማማች ግንኙነት ያላት ሲሆን የመጀመርያው የኢትዮጵያ ፖትርያርክ አቡነ ባስልዮስ በ ፲፱፻፶፩ መሾማቸውን ተከትሎ እስኪቋረጥ ድረስም ጳጳሳት እየተሾሙ የሚመጡት ከግብጽ ነበር። የኢትዮጵያ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስትያን አንድምታ  የተከተሉት የተርጉም ትዉፈት የ ሶስት መቶና የሌሎች የቤተ ክርስትያን አባቶች መሆኑ ይታወቃል።

ምንም እንኳ እምነቱ የተነሳው ከሀዋርያት አስተምህሮ ነው ቢሉም ይህ ልማድ በኩሽና ሴም በባህልና በፖሊቲካዊ ምክንያቶች ቄሳውስትና የእምነት አስተማሪዎች የቤተ ክርስቲያንን አስተምህሮ እንዴት በትክክል እንደሚያስተምሩ በተጨማሪም ህብረተሰቡ በእነዚህ አመታት ውስጥ ለአስተምህሮዎቹ ከነበረው አቀባበል የተነሳ ተጠብቆ ቆይቷል፡፡

ለቤተ ክርስቲያኒቱ ያዳከሟት ታሪካዊ ክስተቶች እንዳሉ ሆነው የአብነት ትምህርት ቤቶች መዳከም እና መዛባት ምእመኑን በተወሰነም ቢሆን ከአባቶች አስተምህሮ እንዲርቅ ያደረገው ይመስላል። OODE በነገረ መለኮት ኮሌጆች፣ በነገረ መለኮት ምሩቃን እና በማኅበረ ቅዱሳን ምእመኑን ወደ አባቶች አስተምህሮ ለመመለስ የሚደረገውን ጥረት ያደንቃል። የአማርኛ ድረ-ገጹ ዋና ራእይም የእነዚህ አካላትን ጥረት ማገዝና ለኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ አማኞች በጥናት የታገዙ ጥልቅ ኦርቶዶክሳዊ ትምህርቶችን በአማርኛ ማድረስ ነው። ዋና ዓላማውም አማኞች ዋና ዋና በሚባሉ ኦርቶዶክሳዊ መንፈሳዊ ልምምዶች ማለትም በንስሓ ሕይወትና በሱታፌ አምላክ(እግዚአብሔርን በመምሰል ማደግ) እንዲጠነክሩ ማገዝ ነው።

ኦርቶዶክስ ሃይማኖት ዓለምን ሙሉ ያቀረ ነዉ። ሌላው የዚህ ገጽ ዓላማ የግርክና የኢቲዖጵያ ኦርቶዶክሳውያን ቤተክርስቲያናትን አራርቀው ያቆዩትን ታሪካዊና ሌሎች ችግሮች ለመፍታት ይረዳ ዘንድ ኦርቶዶክሳዊ አቀባበልና (የችግር አፈታት) መግባባት ማስፋት ነው።

ምንም ስንኳ አንዳንዶቻችን አማርኛ ማንበብና መጻፍ ብንችልም አብዛኞቹ ትርጉሞች ላይ አማርኛ ተናጋሪ በሆኑ ሰዎች ድጋፍ አጊኝተናል። ከOODE ዓላማ ላለማፈንገጥ ስንልም የጸሐፊዎችን ስሞች ሳናካትት የስሞችን የመጀመርያ ፊደላት ብቻ እንደምንጠቀም እናሳውቃለን።በዚህ አጋጣሚ ኢትዮጵያውያን የነገረ መለኮት ተማሪዎችንና ምሩቃንን በትርጉም እንዲያግዙን ለመጋበዝ እንፈልጋለን። በትርጒም ሥራው ላይ ሲሳተፉ የአባቶችን ትምህርቶች ለማንበብና ለመረዳት የበለጠ ዕድል የሚከፍት መሆኑ የታመነ ነውና።

አዲስ ነገር
መሠረታዊ ኦርቶዶክስ አስተምህሮ  
ኦርቶዶክስ ቤተክርስቲያን
መጽሐፍ ቅዱስ የቅዱሳን ሕይወት
የቤተክርስቲያን አባቶች ትምህርቶች 
ትዳርና የቤተሰብ ኑሮ

ENGLISH TEXTS - በእንግሊዝኛ

What is “O.O.D.E.”?

oodegr.com

The Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiries (OODE) is an electronic, Orthodox magazine dedicated to the study, outlining, documenting and publishing of the Christian Orthodox faith. The platform is not associated with any Diocese in particular, but it is comprised mostly of private individuals of varying ages and occupations who recognise the primacy of the Orthodox dogma and contribute their time for the study and dissemination of Orthodox materials. OODE receives no funding, while involved fees (internet connection, other) are covered by the individual members. All contributors share their research or work as translators voluntarily motivated by the shared commitment to contribute toward the preservation of the Orthodox faith. 

OODE is an electronic periodical that uploads materials consistently as these become available. The online website currently includes web pages in eight languages: English, Greek, French, German, Italian, Romanian, Turkish and Farsi. The rationale for an Amharic page emanates from our experience and contact with the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahәdo tradition and faith.

The Ethiopian faithful have preserved their indigenous, pre-Chalcedon tradition at least for sixteen centuries since Christianity was embraced officially by the flourishing Aksumite Kingdom. This had existed in proximity to the Christianised Roman Empire, which provided an early conduit for transference of Greek and Syriac influences into Ethiopia. The Church has been historically closer to the Coptic Church with Ethiopian bishops being consecrated in Alexandria, a practice that changed with the enthronement of Patriarch Basilios in 1959. The Church has preserved an eclectic exegetical tradition, the ’andәmta (አንድምታ), which is attributed to the works of the Nicene and other Early Church Fathers.

While the tradition officially embraces apostolic teachings, the Church developed within a Cushitic-Semitic cultural and political context that influenced how teachers of the faith and the clergy have articulated Church dogmatics and theology and the ways in which the general population has received it over the years.

Historical events that contributed to the weakening of the Church, in combination with a weak training in exegesis among rural clergy, have resulted in what could be described as distortions of apostolic teachings. OODE acknowledges recent efforts by the Association of Theologians in Addis Ababa, the modern theological colleges and also the sub-division of the All Saints’ Association under the Sunday School department of the Church known as the Maḫәbärä Qәdusan (ማኅበረ ቅዱሳን) to revive the faith by returning to Patristic works and basic dogmatics. The vision behind the Amharic page is to support these groups’ efforts to reinvigorate the Orthodox faith among the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahәdo Christians by making available to Amharic speakers the extensive and well-researched resource base of the OODE. The aim is to strengthen the faith of the believers toward achieving the authentic Orthodox experience of purification, enlightenment and theosis (እግዚአብሔርን መምሰል).

Orthodoxy is a global faith and a global message for everyone to assimilate and to embody. Another motivation for this page is to promote an Orthodox attitude of acceptance and understanding to overcome historical, culture-specific biases or ethnocentric sentiments that have kept the Eastern Orthodox and the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahәdo Churches at a distance.

While some of us speak and write Amharic, we have been supported in most translations by native Amharic speakers. To keep in line with the general vision of the OODE, we have avoided using names and we rather use initials. We are especially interested in attracting young Ethiopian theologians to support us in translations, providing them in turn with an opportunity to improve their understanding of early Church Fathers’ works available on the website.  We welcome all expressions of interest. 

 

Haile Selassie I (1892-1975), the emperor of Ethiopia

En.wikipedia
 
Haile Selassie I (Ge'ez: ቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ?, qädamawi haylä səllasé^{[nb 1]}; Amharic pronunciation: [ˈhaɪlɜ sɨˈlːase] ( listen);^{[nb 2]} 23 July 1892 – 27 August 1975), born Tafari Makonnen Woldemikael,^[4] was Ethiopia's regent from 1916 to 1930 and emperor from 1930 to 1974. He also served as Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity from 25 May 1963 to 17 July 1964 and 5 November 1966 to 11 September 1967. He was a member of the Solomonic Dynasty.
At the League of Nations in 1936, the emperor condemned the use of chemical weapons by Italy against his people during the Second Italo–Ethiopian War.^[5] 
His internationalist views led to Ethiopia becoming a charter member of the United Nations, and his political thought and experience in promoting multilateralism and collective security have proved seminal and enduring.^[6] His suppression of rebellions among the landed aristocracy (the mesafint), which consistently opposed his reforms, as well as what some critics perceived to be Ethiopia's failure to modernize rapidly enough,^[7] earned him criticism among some contemporaries and historians.^[8] His regime was also criticized by human rights groups, such as Human Rights Watch, as autocratic and illiberal.^[8][9]
Among the Rastafari movement, whose followers are estimated at between two and four million, Haile Selassie is revered as the returned messiah of the Bible, God incarnate.^[10][11] Beginning in Jamaica in the 1930s, the Rastafari movement perceives Haile Selassie as a messianic figure who will lead a future golden age of eternal peace, righteousness, and prosperity.^[12] Haile Selassie was an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian throughout his life. He is a defining figure in Ethiopian history.^[13][14]
Haile Selassie died on 27 August 1975 at the age of 83, following a coup d'état.^[15]

Click:

• 1 Name
• 2 Biography
  • 2.1 Early life
  • 2.2 Governorship
  • 2.3 Regency
    • 2.3.1 Travel abroad
  • 2.4 King and emperor
  • 2.5 Conflict with Italy
    • 2.5.1 Mobilization
    • 2.5.2 Progress of the war
    • 2.5.3 Exile debate
    • 2.5.4 Collective security and the League of Nations, 1936
    • 2.5.5 Exile
  • 2.6 1940s and 1950s
  • 2.7 Charitable gesture
  • 2.8 1960s
  • 2.9 1970s
    • 2.9.1 Wollo famine
    • 2.9.2 Revolution
    • 2.9.3 Imprisonment
    • 2.9.4 Death and interment
• 3 Descendants
• 4 Rastafari messiah
  • 4.1 Question of his divinity
• 5 Biographical film
• 6 Title as emperor
• 7 Honours
  • 7.1 National orders
  • 7.2 Foreign orders
• 8 Ancestry
• 9 Military ranks
• 10 Popular culture
• 11 See also
• 12 Notes
  • 12.1 Footnotes
  • 12.2 Citations
• 13 Bibliography
• 14 Further reading
• 15 External links

See also
 
Moses the Ethiopian, the Black Saint & Teacher (& other Ethiopian saints in the Orthodox Church) 
Orthodox Ethiopia 
Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black  

Martyrdom in Egypt

Ancient Faith Ministries

We talk with Coptic monk Fr. Anastasi Saint Antony about the Christians in Egypt who are being martyred for their faith in Christ. Find out more about the Coptic Church by visiting the Diocese of Los Angeles web site. The charity Fr. Anastasi mentioned is the Santa Verena Charity. 

Here!

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