Asmara, Eritrea - Abuna Antonios of the Eritrean Orthodox Church has been stripped of his patriarchal authority by a congress of the Holy Synod convened on August 7.
According to a letter smuggled out of the repressive East African nation from the patriarch’s office, the 78-year-old prelate was not removed from his position. But Antonios was forbidden to carry out any administrative functions or even bless his congregation.
Dated August 9, the letter in the Tigrinya language was posted on the website of Asmarino Independent News on August 20.
According to an accompanying statement, the Holy Synod demanded that the patriarch be deposed over six accusations in which he was said to have been “an obstacle in the work of the Holy Christian Church.” The list of charges included his reluctance to excommunicate 3,000 members of Medhane Alem, an Orthodox Sunday School movement, and his high-level request that the government release some imprisoned Christian “traitors” from jail.
Government Reaction Comes Quickly
Elected patriarch only 17 months ago, Antonios had begun to challenge government interference in church affairs earlier this year. The Orthodox faithful, who constitute some 40 percent of the population, were first puzzled when their patriarch’s annual Christmas message was not broadcast on national radio or television on January 7.
Then, in the wake of several police raids on Medhane Alem gatherings, three of the Orthodox movement’s prominent leaders were arrested in March. Despite patriarchal inquiries, the Rev. Dr. Futsum Kuluberhan, the Rev. Dr. Tekleab Mengisteab and the Rev. Gebremedhin Georgis are still jailed incommunicado in Asmara’s notorious Wongel Mermera investigation center.
Government Appointed Administrator Makes Charges
According to the Holy Synod’s statement, their congress to depose the patriarch was called by Yeftehe Dimetros, a layman appointed by the government as administrator of the Orthodox Church.
Sources in Eritrea accuse Dimetros of drafting all the accusations against the patriarch, noting that several priests who supported the elected head of the church have been suspended from office and lost their salaries.
As a political appointee, Dimetros violates centuries-old church canons in his new role. Articles 32 and 96 of the Eritrean Orthodox Church Constitution require that this position be held by a bishop appointed by the patriarch.
Rumors are now circulating in Asmara that President Isaias Afwerki’s government intends to announce the election of another patriarch soon. This would also be a direct contravention of church statutes governing the selection of a new patriarch.
During an escalating government crackdown that has outlawed all Protestant churches except Lutheranism since May 2002, the Eritrean Orthodox Church has enjoyed relative immunity as the nation’s oldest religious community, dating back to the fourth century A.D.
A branch of the Oriental Orthodox family, the Eritrean Orthodox Church became independent in 1994, followed by acceptance in 2003 as a member of the World Council of Churches. Along with the Catholic, Lutheran and Muslim faiths, it is one of four officially recognized religions in Eritrea.
By contrast, local evangelical churches have been closed down for the past three years, with their pastors and members subjected to harsh raids, imprisonment and torture for worshipping outside “legal” church buildings, even in their own homes.
Pressures on Other "Legal" Church
But government pressures have also surfaced against the Catholic Church, with several raids and arrests reported against some of their members and renewal movements. In late 2003, the Catholic bishop vigorously resisted government demands that he submit regular reports on his church’s activities, declaring that his church reported only to the Vatican.
More recently, the Catholic Church has refused to comply with government orders that all their priests under the age of 40 register for military training. Reportedly the Orthodox, Lutheran and Muslim religious communities have already started this new compulsory registration requiring their priests, pastors and imams to do military service.
The Eritrean government has consistently denied that any religious persecution occurs in the country, describing the documented reports of Amnesty International, the U.S. State Department and other sources as “groundless.”