Eritrea - Wednesday January 18, 2006
GOVERNMENT FORMALLY SACKS ORTHODOX PATRIARCH
Abune Antonios challenges state-controlled synod’s arbitrary
dismissal.
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| Patriarch Abune Antonios | January 18
(Compass) – The government-controlled Holy Synod of the
Eritrean Orthodox Church last week served formal notice to Abune
Antonios that he is no longer the patriarchal head of the nation’s
largest religious body.
But Patriarch Antonios immediately rejected the notice. Striking
back, Antonios announced that he was excommunicating or suspending
those who signed his arbitrary dismissal order.
According to a report posted in the Tigrinya language on the
website of the Asmarino Independent News, the synod notified
Patriarch Antonios of his official discharge after “a series of
hidden and closed-door meetings” held last week.
The secret sessions reportedly involved three Eritrean bishops
and Yoftahe Dimetros, a layman installed by the government last
August as chief administrator of the church. The three clerics were
identified as Bishop Lukas, Bishop Petros and Bishop Marcos, all
members of the church’s synod.
Dimetros reportedly forced some if not all the senior clergymen
whose names appeared on the document to sign it.
The patriarch openly challenged the decision, declaring that it
was a direct violation of Orthodox church canons. Under canon law, a
patriarch’s election is considered a lifetime appointment that
cannot be revoked. In addition, Dimetros’ takeover of church
administration contravenes church statutes, which require that the
position be held by an ordained bishop appointed by the patriarch.
Patriarch Antonios promptly excommunicated Dimetros from holding
any position within the church and suspended the three bishops from
officiating at liturgies or delivering any sermons.
On January 13, Dimetros ordered the confiscation of the
patriarch’s car and dismissed his personal chauffeur.
Two days later, Abune Antonios caused a stir in Asmara when he
emerged from his home, walking along the street to attend the Sunday
prayers and liturgy at St. Mary’s Orthodox Church. Shocked that the
elderly, robed cleric was not being driven to church as usual,
several passersby stopped their cars to offer him a lift. The
78-year-old patriarch was quickly surrounded by a crowd of Orthodox
faithful who escorted him to and from his residence for morning
worship.
Since last August, when the Eritrean government stripped Antonios
of his ecclesiastical authority and forbid him to administrate the
affairs of the church, the patriarch has remained under virtual
house arrest at his residence in Asmara.
From Asmara, sources confirmed to Compass today that if the
patriarch continues to challenge the government-orchestrated
takeover of his church, most people expect him to be arrested soon.
Rumor has it that soon afterwards, the government would try to
announce its selection of a new patriarch.
Antonios was installed by Coptic Orthodox Pope Shenoudah III as
the third patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Church in March 2004.
Protestant Teacher Jailed
The new year in Eritrea also saw a member of the Church of the
Living God in Asmara arrested from his place of work on January 11.
A university graduate teaching at the Mai-Nefhee Training Center in
Asmara, Hanibal Tekeste is married with two children.
Tekeste is the fourth member of the charismatic church arrested
within the past month. One of the church’s pastors detained just
before Christmas later escaped from the security authorities and is
now believed to have fled the country.
Since May 2002, Eritrea’s repressive regime has closed down and
outlawed all Protestant churches except those that are Lutheran.
Since that time, dozens of evangelical Protestant pastors and
several thousand of their church members have been arrested and
subjected to severe torture and detention in Eritrea for worshipping
outside “legal” church buildings, even in their own homes.
The ancient Eritrean Orthodox Church had initially enjoyed
relative immunity from government restrictions, along with the
recognized Catholic, Lutheran and Muslim faiths. But Patriarch
Antonios fell out of favor last year for protesting the jailing of
three of his priests and other overt government interference in
church affairs.
The Eritrean government issues routine, blanket denials that any
religious persecution is occurring within the country, insisting
that documented reports from Amnesty International, the U.S. State
Department and other sources are “fabricated” and “groundless.”
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