 | This article needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(April 2025) |
| Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church | |
|---|---|
| ቤተ ክርስትያን ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ትግራይ Bet'ə K'rstian Orthodox Tewahədo Tigray | |
 Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion Cathedral inAxum, the seat of the Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church | |
| Abbreviation | TOTC |
| Classification | Oriental Orthodox |
| Orientation | Independent Oriental Orthodox,Orthodox Tewahedo |
| Scripture | Orthodox Tewahedo Bible |
| Theology | Miaphysitism |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Primate | Vacant |
| Region | Tigray andTigrayan diaspora |
| Headquarters | Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion,Axum,Tigray |
| Founder | The Apostle and Evangelist Mark in 42 ADAlexandria, SaintFrumentius in 328 ADAxum (according to the Tigrayan Orthodox tradition) |
| Independence | From theEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in 2021. Not officially recognized in the broader Orthodox community. |
| Part of a series on |
| Oriental Orthodoxy |
|---|
 |
| Oriental Orthodox churches |
Independent churches |
History and theology
|
Liturgy and practices
|
Major figures
|
Links and resources |
 Christianity portal |
TheTigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church is one of theOriental Orthodox Churches with its headquarters inAxum,Tigray Region. It declaredautocephaly on 7 May 2021, due to the alleged involvement of theEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church inwar crimes against the Tigray, and for being too closely aligned with the Ethiopian government.[1][2][3][4] The archbishops of the Diocese of Tigray announced the establishment of the Synod of the Tigray Orthodox Tewahedo Church on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, based on their previously codified “Church Law” after a three-day meeting from October 21 to 23, 2024.[5][6] Although there is declaration of autocephaly, the church has not been officially granted an autocephalous status from the officially recognized Oriental Orthodox Churches as of 2024.
Tewahedo (Ge'ez:ተዋሕዶtäwaḥədo) is a Ge'ez word meaning "being made one", cognate toArabictawhid.
According to theCatholic Encyclopedia (1917 edition) article on theHenoticon: around 500 bishops within thePatriarchates ofAlexandria,Antioch andJerusalem refused to accept the "two natures" doctrine decreed by theCouncil of Chalcedon in 451, thus separating themselves from the rest of Christianity since that time.[7] This separate Christian communion came to be known asOriental Orthodoxy. The Oriental Orthodox Churches, which today include theCoptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, theArmenian Apostolic Church, theSyriac Orthodox Church, theMalankara Orthodox Syrian Church of India, theEthiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and theEritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, are referred to as "Non-Chalcedonian". These churches themselves describe theirChristology asmiaphysite, but outsiders often describe them asmonophysite.[8][9]
Following the Tigray war, four Archbishops in Tigray announced the formation of a new and independent structure on May 7, 2021, accusing the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church of not opposing the war on Tigray, and of being too closely aligned with the perpetrators.[2][10] Following the Tigray war, four Archbishops in Tigray announced the formation of a new and independent structure on May 7, 2021, named the autocephaly of the See of Selama Kessate Birhan, the High Administration of Tigray Orthodox Tewahedo Church. This was in response to allegations that the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church had not appropriately opposed the war on Tigray and was too closely aligned with the war's perpetrators.[2][10] They also alleged that the Synod did nothing to protect the churches and monasteries in Tigray from destruction and that they withheld financial support from the region.[1][2] TheAxum massacre in November 2020, when 100–800 civilians in Axum were killed by the Eritrean forces, was commonly cited as one example.[11] The massacre was carried out in the center of Axum, near the Church of Our Lady of Zion, one of the most important holy sites in the Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The church was also looted and damaged.
The first formal communication between the two churches occurred in February 2023, when the Ethiopian Church released a letter in which they requested to talk to the Tigrayan church leaders about reconciliation. Rather than being addressed to the See of Selama Kessate Birhan, Patriarchate of the Tigray Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the letter was addressed to individual archbishops, which caused further irritation amongst the Tigray leaders, as the Ethiopian Church refused to acknowledge their institution.[1]
Also in February 2023, the Tigrayan Church released its first liturgy book inTigrinya andGe'ez.[1]
In March 2023, the General Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church released a statement saying they would send a delegation to Tigray to attempt to repair the schism between the two churches. The Tigrayan church leaders rejected the statement, with some priests saying it did not include an apology for the Ethiopian Church's actions.[10] That same month, the Tigrayan bishops appointed a bishop to oversee Tigrayan church members in the diaspora; this move was criticized by the Ethiopian Church.[10]
On July 16, 2023, the Tigray Orthodox Tewahdo Church council nominated 10episcopates five in Tigray and five abroad.[12][13] Early in the month, the Ethiopian Church officially apologized for their lack of action during the war, but Tigrayan leaders did not express any interest in reconciling, with some criticizing the apology for not recognizing the full magnitude of the injustices committed during the war.[14][15]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(July 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In common with allEastern Orthodox,Oriental Orthodox, and Western Orthodox churches; theCatholic Church and theOld Catholic churches of theUnion of Utrecht, the Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church professes belief in the seven sacraments ofbaptism,confirmation,eucharist,confession, theanointing of the sick,matrimony, andholy orders. It regards the first four as being "necessary for every believer".
The traditionalliturgical language of the Tigrayan Orthodox Tewahedo Church isGeʽez. This was the language of the earlyAksumite Christians of the region. Though Geʽez no longer has native speakers, the language is still used for church liturgical functions and festivities. However, thesibket, or sermons, are normally given in the localTigrinya language.
The Tewahedo Church Biblical Canon contains 81 books, including almost all of those which are accepted by other Orthodox and Oriental Christians. The exception are theBooks of the Maccabees, at least some of which are accepted in the Eastern Orthodox and other Oriental Orthodox churches, but not in the Tewahedo churches. The books of Meqabyan, which are accepted instead, have an etymologically connected name, but rather different content. The Tigrayana Orthodox canon, the Eritrean Orthodox canon, and the Ethiopian Orthodox canon are identical.
The Ethiopian Church, places a heavier emphasis on Old Testament teachings than one might find in other churches. Women are prohibited from entering the church temple duringmenses;[16] they are also expected tocover their hair with a large scarf (orshash) while in church, as described in 1 Corinthians, chapter 11. As with Orthodoxsynagogues, men and women sit separately in the Ethiopian church, with men on the left and women on the right (when facing the altar).[17] (Women covering their heads and separation of the sexes in churches officially is common to few other Christian traditions; it is also the rule in some non-Christian religions,Islam andOrthodox Judaism among them).[18]
Before praying, the Ethiopian Orthodoxremove their shoes in order to acknowledge that one is offering prayer before a holy God.[19] Ethiopian Orthodox worshippers remove their shoes when entering a church temple,[17] in accordance withExodus 3:5 (in whichMoses, while viewing theburning bush, was commanded to remove his shoes while standing on holy ground). Furthermore, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is known to observe theseventh-day Sabbath (Saturday, or the lesser Sabbath), in addition to theLord's Day (Sunday, or the Christian Sabbath),[20] recognizing both to be holy days of joy, prayer, and contemplation, although more emphasis, because of theResurrection of Christ, is laid upon Sunday. While the Ethiopian Church is known for this practice, it is neither an innovation nor unique to it,[21] deriving from theApostolic Constitutions and theApostolic Canons[22][23] the former of which without the Apostolic Canons included is in the church's 81-book canon as theDidascalia. The nature of the Sabbath only became a doctrinal dispute in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria in the centuries leading up to the issue being rectified byEwostatewos.[24] The emperorGelawdewos in hisConfession, anapologia of traditional beliefs and practices says "we do not honour it as the Jews do... but we so honour it that we celebrate thereon the Eucharist and have love-feasts, even as our Fathers the Apostles have taught us in the Didascalia".[25]
The Ethiopian Church does not call for circumcision, yet it is a cultural practice,[26] as is abstention from pork and other meats deemed unclean. It is not regarded as being necessary to salvation. The liturgy mentions, "let us not be circumcised like the Jews."[27]
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church observes days ofritual purification.[28][29] People who are ritually unclean may approach the church but are not permitted to enter it; they instead stand near the church door andpray during the liturgy.[30]
Rugare Rukuni and Erna Oliver identify the Nine Saints asJewish Christians, and attribute the Judaic character of Ethiopian Christianity, in part, to their influence.[31]: 6, 8
Women are prohibited from entering Tigrayan church temples duringmenses; they are also expected to cover their hair with a large scarf (or ashash) while they are in church, as described in1 Corinthians, chapter 11.
In summer 2023, the church had four Archbishops;[32]
The leaders of the Tigray Orthodox Tewahdo Church’s See of Selama Kesate Birhan elected ten candidates as bishops on July 16, 2023.[4][32] The new bishops will lead dioceses both in the Tigray region and abroad.
The king presided, overruled the bishops who were committed to the more usual position that Sunday only was a holy day, and decreed that the Sabbatarian teaching of the northern monks became the position of the church.
Since the first century, Christians made Sunday the Christian Sabbath and kept Saturday as the Jewish Sabbath.
Assemble yourselves together in the church, evening and morning; offer up praises, and sing; and read the Psalms of David, the sixty-second, and moreover the hundred and fortieth. And especially on the Jewish Sabbath, and on the first day of the week, the Christian Sabbath, which is the day of His holy resurrection, offer up praises and thanksgivings and glory to the Lord, who hath created all things by his Son Jesus Christ, whom he sent unto us, who was pleased to suffer according to his will, and was buried in the tomb, and rose again from the dead.
XXXIII. I Peter and Paul do make the following constitutions. Let the slaves work five days; but on the Sabbath day and the Lord's day let them have leisure to go to church for instruction in piety. We have said that the Sabbath is on account of the creation, and the Lord's day of the resurrection. Let slaves rest from their work all the great week, and that which follows it - for the one in memory of the passion, and the other of the resurrection; and there is need they should be instructed who it is that suffered and rose again, and who it is permitted Him to suffer, and raised Him again. Let them have rest from their work on the Ascension, because it was the conclusion of the dispensation by Christ. Let them rest at Pentecost, because of the coming of the Holy Spirit, which was given to those that believed in Christ. Let them rest on the festival of His birth, because on it the unexpected favour was granted to men, that Jesus Christ, the Logos of God, should be born of the Virgin Mary, for the salvation of the world. Let them rest on the festival of Epiphany, because on it a manifestation took place of the divinity of Christ, for the Father bore testimony to Him at the baptism; and the Paraclete, in the form of a dove, pointed out to the bystanders Him to whom testimony was borne. Let them rest on the days of the apostles: for they were appointed your teachers to bring you to Christ, and made you worthy of the Spirit. Let them rest on the day of the first martyr Stephen, and of the other holy martyrs who preferred Christ to their own life.
The Ethiopian and Coptic Churches distinguishes between clean and unclean meats, observes days of ritual purification, and keeps a kind of dual Sabbath on both Saturday and Sunday.
Eastern Christiancommunion ofautocephalouschurches fromArmenia,Egypt,Eritrea,Ethiopia,Sudan and parts of theMiddle East, andIndia | ||
| Autocephalous churches | | |
| Autonomous churches |
| |
| Independent churches |
| |
| Liturgy | ||
