The Persecution of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church: Forced Conversion, Derision, and Systemic Erasure
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By Professor Girma Berhanu Department of Education and Special Education University of Gothenburg
Introduction
This paper is motivated by a recently circulated video produced in Gondar that documents practices of forced religious conversion and coercive manipulation directed at members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The video
[i] depicts economically vulnerable Orthodox believers being pressured by Pentecostal groups—identified as “Mulu Wongel” (“Full Gospel”)—to renounce their faith, burn their kitab, and denounce Saint Mary (Kidist Mariam) in exchange for food aid and other forms of material assistance. Such practices raise serious concerns regarding freedom of religion, informed consent, and the exploitation of poverty.
The involvement of foreign religious actors, reportedly operating in coordination with local authorities, suggests a broader structural problem rather than isolated incidents. Anti-Orthodox campaigns have historical depth in Ethiopia and cannot be understood as recent developments. These campaigns intensified during the Woyane (the other name for Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) period and appear to have become increasingly visible and institutionalized in the post-TPLF/EPRDF era. The instrumentalization of material deprivation to induce religious conversion constitutes a violation of basic human dignity and, under international human-rights norms, may qualify as coercion.
This paper does not aim to engage in theological debate, nor does it seek to adjudicate doctrinal differences. Religion is acknowledged as a sensitive domain that often elicits strong reactions. Instead, the focus is on the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church as a historical, cultural, and social institution that has played a central role in shaping Ethiopian identity, social cohesion, and political sovereignty[ii].
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is among the oldest Christian institutions in the world, yet it has faced sustained external and internal pressures since the sixteenth century, beginning with Portuguese Jesuit interventions. Subsequent periods witnessed continued incursions by both Islamic powers and Western evangelical missions. These efforts often relied on direct proselytization practices that were intrusive and coercive in nature, particularly when directed at economically marginalized communities. The author has observed these dynamics firsthand over several decades.
The manifestations of these pressures are complex and frequently parallel broader colonial or neo-colonial projects. During the Italian occupation, for example, Orthodox institutions and clergy were explicitly targeted. Italian forces carried out documented massacres of Orthodox monks, recognizing the church as a core pillar of Ethiopian nationalism, cultural continuity, and resistance to foreign domination. This historical record underscores the extent to which assaults on the church have also been assaults on Ethiopian sovereignty.
Of particular concern is the role of the Ethiopian state in the contemporary period. Since the rise of the TPLF/EPRDF, there has been documented evidence of systemic discrimination against the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and its adherents, alongside preferential treatment and institutional support extended to evangelical, Pentecostal, and Protestant groups. This pattern of state alignment has contributed to religious inequality, social fragmentation, and the erosion of long-standing communal structures. The Prime Minister and his high-ranking official belong to this group. They openly use the muscle of the state institutions to suppress the Orthodox Christians.
This paper argues that these developments warrant serious scholarly and advocacy-based attention. Addressing coercive religious practices and state-sanctioned disparities is essential not only for protecting religious freedom, but also for preserving social stability and historical continuity in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia at a Crossroads: Religious Violence, Ethnic Federalism, and Regional Instability
In the article “Ethiopia, the Land of the Bible, Brutally Targeting and Killing Christians,” Blanquita Cullum (December 25, 2025), presented on The National Security Hour, examines the contemporary crisis affecting Christian communities in Ethiopia. The presentation situates the origins of Christianity in Ethiopia within the ancient Aksumite Kingdom of the fourth century, 325 CE, following the conversion of King Ezana. Ethiopia possesses one of the world’s oldest continuous Christian traditions, reflected in its extensive religious heritage, including the eleven rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, carved from a single living rock. The country is referenced more than forty times in biblical texts, and longstanding traditions identify Ethiopia as the promised land of St. Mary and as the custodian of the Ark of the Covenant.
Christianity remains a major religious force in Ethiopia, with adherents of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as well as Greek Orthodox, Coptic, and other Christian denominations, numbering in the tens of millions. This enduring presence is largely attributable to Ethiopia’s historical role as a refuge for persecuted Orthodox Christian communities. Armenian and Greek Christians, fleeing persecution in the Ottoman Empire and other regions, migrated to Ethiopia and established enduring diaspora communities. Despite this substantial historical and demographic significance, Ethiopia is currently listed on several international risk assessments identifying heightened threats of armed conflict, political violence, terrorism, and kidnapping. Recent reports suggest that Christian populations—particularly members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church—have increasingly become targets of violence, with incidents rising in both frequency and severity. The crisis raises critical questions regarding the motivations behind attacks on Christian communities and the strategic importance of Ethiopia within the Horn of Africa. Regional instability is underscored by Ethiopia’s proximity to Somalia, a country long affected by state fragility and armed conflict. Furthermore, the involvement of external actors, Egypt, the Gulf states, Turkey etc. warrants examination in light of Ethiopia’s geopolitical significance.
In response to these developments, the United States House of Representatives introduced Resolution H.R. 937, which condemns the Government of Ethiopia for actions that threaten regional stability, violate fundamental human rights, and undermine U.S. strategic interests in the Horn of Africa. The resolution emphasizes that violence has disproportionately targeted the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and other religious institutions. Substantial evidence suggests the involvement of the Oromo Liberation Front and Oromo Liberation Army (OLF/OLA), and Islamic Oromya operating in complicity with elements of the current governing structure.
Ethiopia’s historical identity extends beyond religion. It is the site of the paleoanthropological discovery of Australopithecus afarensis (“Lucy”), the location of Lalibela’s UNESCO-recognized churches, the alleged resting place of the Ark of the Covenant in Axum, and the birthplace of coffee. These widely recognized cultural and historical markers heighten international awareness and underscore the gravity of the country’s present suffering.
Contemporary reports describe a systematic campaign of violence affecting both religious and ethnic communities. Ethiopian Orthodox clergy have been killed, churches destroyed, and entire populations forcibly displaced. Documentation includes accounts of mass killings, sexual violence, and drone strikes against civilian populations. The Amhara people, in particular, have experienced displacement on a scale involving hundreds of thousands.
This crisis is not solely a localized humanitarian emergency but is rooted in a broader political framework of ethnic federalism that has, according to numerous analyses, been instrumentalized by political elites to consolidate power. The resulting fragmentation threatens the cohesion of a state that has endured for millennia. The potential collapse of Ethiopia would have profound regional consequences, jeopardizing trade routes, exacerbating security vacuums, and enabling extremist organizations and foreign powers to expand their influence across the Horn of Africa. H.R. 937 represents a formal acknowledgment of these abuses and calls for concrete measures to protect civilian populations and ensure accountability for perpetrators. The resolution advocates targeted sanctions and the conditional provision of international assistance aimed at safeguarding civilians rather than entrenching political regimes. As such, it constitutes a normative and policy-oriented response to a crisis with significant humanitarian, regional, and geopolitical implications.
Moral Silence in the Face of Atrocity: Religious Leadership and Mass Violence in Contemporary Ethiopia
Ethiopians are currently enduring profound suffering and a pervasive, collective national grief. The country’s fate appears increasingly shaped by ethnonationalist forces, ethno-fascist mobilizations, and violent groups operating both within and outside the present political leadership. Atrocity crimes—including murder, mass killings, arbitrary detention, and other forms of inhumane treatment of civilians—have become disturbingly routine.
At the time of writing, violence continues unabated, particularly in the Amhara region, which has effectively become a war zone. Approximately six million school-aged children are out of school, state institutions are largely nonfunctional, agricultural activity has been disrupted, and access to health services is severely limited. The region has witnessed large-scale internal displacement and migration. International reporting indicates that tens of thousands—though the precise number remains undetermined—have been killed, including through drone strikes and other weaponry. Civilians endure indescribable suffering, compounded by reports of forced religious conversion and systematic abuses directed at Ethiopian Orthodox Church institutions and clergy[iii].
Amid these conditions, pressing questions arise: Where are the voices of international humanitarian organizations? Where is the collective response of the international community? Why is there such limited global condemnation of the killing of Ethiopians—young and old alike? Equally troubling is the relative silence of domestic religious leadership. Ethiopia’s religious institutions are moral centers where fundamental ethical principles are taught—most notably, that the taking of life is wrong and that inflicting suffering upon others constitutes a grave violation of divine law. Yet these principles are not being articulated with sufficient clarity or urgency in response to the current crisis.
It is widely recognized that there is no military solution to the ongoing violence and genocidal acts in Ethiopia. Religious and spiritual leaders—both within the country and throughout the diaspora—must therefore speak out forcefully, consistently, and unambiguously. They must affirm that all Ethiopians are children of God and that murder represents a profound desecration of the very faith such violence claims to defend. The ongoing silence of religious establishments in the face of mass atrocities is deeply troubling and risks becoming catastrophic for efforts to preserve Ethiopia’s unity and to protect the sanctity of human life. Forced religious conversion, moreover, constitutes a violation equal in moral gravity to physical violence.
In times of national disaster or collective trauma, religious leaders traditionally serve as frontline caregivers and trusted moral authorities. Communities look to them for comfort, healing, and guidance, and they are expected to act as the voice of the voiceless. While the primary role of religious leadership is spiritual care—providing compassion, empathy, clarity, and hope in moments of crisis—it also includes a responsibility to condemn killings, denounce inhumane treatment and forced conversion, and publicly admonish political leaders who perpetuate violence.
The current situation in Ethiopia urgently requires such leadership. Religious institutions possess a unique capacity to help halt the violence orchestrated by political elites whose actions threaten to destroy Ethiopia’s social fabric, undermine the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and provoke prolonged civil war. Beyond condemnation, these leaders are also positioned to facilitate national dialogue, reconciliation, and the pursuit of sustainable peace. Their established social authority, extensive networks, and faith-based moral frameworks equip them to respond meaningfully to the profound suffering experienced by millions of Ethiopians.
It must be acknowledged that some courageous religious figures have spoken out against these atrocity crimes. Notably, several bishops from the Amhara region and the late Sheikh Haji Omar Idris—the Grand Mufti of Ethiopia and former president of the Islamic Affairs Supreme Council—publicly expressed grave concern regarding the deteriorating situation and the commission of mass atrocities. It is possible that other leaders have voiced similar concerns privately or within limited forums. Nevertheless, what is required now is a far stronger, unified, and unequivocal public condemnation by Ethiopia’s major religious institutions. Such moral leadership is not optional; it is imperative.
Faith Under Siege: Ethiopia’s Orthodox Church in a Changing Religious Landscape
I want to believe that the majority of Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Muslims, and Ethiopian Protestant Churches (including Pentecostals, both as organizations and as individual believers) have fought—and continue to fight—for justice, truth, and the rule of law throughout Ethiopian history. However, the forms of resistance and protest have varied significantly among these religious communities. Compared to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, one of the oldest Christian institutions in the world, Protestant denominations—including Evangelical, Pentecostal[iv], Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopalian, Mennonite, Seventh-day Adventist, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and numerous other fragmented Protestant churches—are relatively recent arrivals in Ethiopia. Consequently, their roles and engagements in Ethiopian political life differ accordingly.
As Haustein (2014) [v]notes, a new religious factor has emerged in Ethiopia that attracts considerable public attention, invites controversy, influences social behavior, and has even generated new Amharic expressions. This phenomenon is visible in the proliferation of church signs in towns and villages bearing names such as “Full Gospel Believers Church” (ሙሉ፡ወንጌል፡አማኞች፡ቤተ፡ክርስቲያን, Mulu Wängel Amañočč Betä-Krəstiyan), “Paradise Church” (ገነት፡ቤተ፡ክርስቲያን, Gännät Betä-Krəstiyan), “Light of Life Church” (ሕይወት፡ብርሃን፡ቤተ፡ክርስቲያን, Ḥəywät Bərhan Betä-Krəstiyan), “Deliverance Church” (አርነት፡ቤተ፡ክርስቲያን, Arənnät Betä-Krəstiyan), among many others.
There are widely held—though largely unsubstantiated—claims that some Protestant sects passively collaborate with the ruling regime because the government has granted them greater space to practice their religion. Another equally contested claim suggests that, since the regime (whether under the EPRDF, the Prosperity Party, to match Oral Robert’s Prosperity Gospel) or the broader political elite) has adopted an anti-Orthodox posture and undermined Orthodox traditions, these newer religious groups have felt emboldened or even satisfied by the weakening of what they perceive as a rival religious establishment.
The expansion of Protestant denominations is undeniable. However, their relationships with long-established religious communities—particularly the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Muslim community—have been fraught with tension. One major point of contention is aggressive proselytization, including practices that critics argue involve materially incentivizing conversions among impoverished Orthodox believers. It is long overdue for Protestant churches, Muslim organizations, and the Orthodox Church—whose leadership has itself been manipulated by the regime—to take coordinated and principled action in condemning atrocities committed in Ethiopia, especially assaults on Orthodox believers, their ancient traditions, artifacts, and sacred relics.
Internal disputes and doctrinal rivalries over relatively minor theological differences only serve to prolong the grip of authoritarian or ethnofascist forces on power, thereby exacerbating the suffering of the faithful. While religious institutions should remain independent of political control in a just, inclusive, and democratic society, Ethiopia’s reality has been markedly different. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church was heavily controlled under the EPRDF and continues to be influenced by sympathizers of extremist and ethnicist forces, particularly those emerging from anti-Ethiopian movements in regions such as Oromia. Reports from Dire Dawa, Harar, and eastern Ethiopia are deeply alarming and warrant a separate, focused analysis.
A closer examination of the power structure within the Ethiopian Orthodox Patriarchate reveals that an estimated 90 percent of departmental leadership positions have been held by former TPLF members or current Prosperity Party affiliates (though precise figures are unavailable). This political capture explains, in part, why the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is facing both financial hardship and severe restrictions on its religious autonomy. The regime has repeatedly violated religious freedom by intervening directly in Orthodox ecclesiastical affairs.
Ironically, historic churches such as Lalibela and Axum Zion generate substantial revenue through tourism, yet the Church itself has seen little benefit from this income. Since the TPLF came to power, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has borne the brunt of discriminatory policies and systematic marginalization. A commonly cited explanation for the government’s hostility toward the Orthodox foundation lies in the Church’s deep-rooted tradition of Ethiopianism. The Church is famously associated with the Ethiopian flag and has long served as a custodian of national identity. Under the new regime, the situation has worsened. Abiy’s ministers, allies, and a shadow government appear influenced by the Prosperity Gospel movement—an extremely aggressive, profit-driven, and mafia-like organization—which has had a damaging impact not only in Ethiopia but across numerous African countries, often depriving the poor and vulnerable.
Several factors have historically complicated relations between successive regimes—including both the Tigrean-led and Abiy administrations—and the Church. First, for centuries, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church stood at the center of village social life. Weddings, baptisms, funerals, conflict mediation, and spiritual counseling were all conducted through the Church. Each household was spiritually connected to a priest who served as a religious “father” and presided over key life-cycle events. In this way, the Church was embedded in every community.
Second, the Church functioned as a vital link between the people and the state. It consistently aligned itself with Ethiopian emperors who, in turn, promoted the Church’s unity, expansion, and authority. Hierarchically organized from village parishes to a national center, the Church embodied both spiritual and socio-cultural life. It played a critical role in mediating conflicts—between rival groups and even between the state and rebel forces—while fostering allegiance to the Ethiopian state. Through the use of national symbols, especially the Ethiopian flag during religious and social ceremonies, the Church effectively served as a school of national consciousness, a practice mirrored by the Ethiopian military.
Third, the Church historically served as the principal legitimizing institution for Ethiopian rulers. Long-standing grievances regarding the TPLF’s hijacking of the Orthodox Church were later substantiated in Aregawi Berhe’s A Political History of the TPLF, as referenced by Getachew Redda (see: Ethiopian Semay, accessed 2018-02-08). Notably, I have never observed the Ethiopian flag being prominently displayed during ceremonies or festivities of other religious institutions in Ethiopia—though I remain open to correction on this point.
Above all, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has historically maintained, affirmed, and defended the just liberties of the Ethiopian people and the nation’s territorial integrity. During periods of foreign invasion, it provided moral support and spiritual inspiration to Ethiopian patriots, reinforcing its enduring role as both a religious and national institution.
Since its inception, the ruling party has clandestinely organized and operated activities that are hostile toward the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the Muslim community. It has infiltrated and “contaminated” these foundational institutions, which are central to Ethiopian identity and the ethos of Ethiopianism. These religious establishments are perceived as threats to a ruling agenda centered on un-Ethiopian policies. The commitment and zeal of Orthodox followers—to both their faith and the integrity of Ethiopia—has been documented by international observers and researchers.
According to Jeff Diamant (2017)[vi], a senior writer/editor at Pew Research Center focusing on religion, Ethiopia has the largest Orthodox Christian population outside Europe. By many measures, Orthodox Ethiopians display far higher levels of religious commitment than Orthodox Christians in the faith’s historical heartlands of Central and Eastern Europe. Ethiopia, located in the Horn of Africa, has over 45 [?]million Orthodox Christians, making it the world’s second-largest Orthodox population after Russia. Nearly all Orthodox Ethiopians (98%) consider religion very important, compared with a median of 34% among Orthodox Christians across 13 surveyed countries in Central and Eastern Europe. About three-quarters of Orthodox Ethiopians attend church weekly (78%), compared with a median of 10% in Central and Eastern Europe and just 6% in Russia.
Orthodox Christians make up approximately 53%[vii] of Ethiopia’s population, with Protestants accounting for 19% and Muslims 35%. In 2010, Ethiopia’s 36 million Orthodox Christians comprised about 14% of the global Orthodox population, up from 3% in 1910. This growth is largely attributable to Ethiopia’s overall population increase, from 9 million in 1910 to 83 million in 2010. Ethiopian Orthodoxy belongs to the Oriental branch of Orthodoxy, which represents roughly 20% of the global Orthodox population and is not in communion with the larger Eastern Orthodox Church due to theological and doctrinal differences.
For these reasons, the current ruling party view the Orthodox Church as a threat to their “divide and rule” strategies. Some reports suggest that evangelical Protestantism (particularly Pentecostalism) is aggressively attempting to convert members, while fundamentalist Islam is becoming increasingly assertive in the country and the region. However, substantial empirical data is required before these claims can be definitively stated. Premature discussion risks creating divisions that only prolong the regime’s merciless attacks on Ethiopia and Ethiopian identity.
It is high time for Ethiopian youth to stop being used as cannon fodder and for religious institutions to cease acting merely as passive observers—or worse, as facilitators of burial services for unarmed citizens murdered under the regime. Religious schisms, particularly among the diaspora, must end to preserve unity in the face of persecution.
Ethiopians must have access to international platforms to present their case, including the United Nations and its judicial bodies, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Criminal Court (ICC), global media outlets, religious institutions, prominent cultural figures, and independent think tanks that provide early warnings of crises. The persecution of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church—including forced conversions, derision, and systematic erasure—is part of a broader genocidal agenda. Early warning signs of catastrophic risk in Ethiopia are already evident. The international community must respond urgently to prevent the destruction of the country and the destabilization of the wider region. Failure to act will have devastating consequences for Ethiopia and beyond.
Summary and The Road Forward
At this critical moment in Ethiopian history, what do we expect from our religious leaders—regardless of denomination, sect, or doctrine? We expect courage, honesty, and moral clarity.
Political elites are manipulating divisions among religious leaders and ethnic groups. Silence from our spiritual authorities in the face of atrocities is unacceptable. Religious leaders have a moral duty to speak out, call for justice, and hold the powerful accountable. The faith community looks to you not just for guidance, but for action. Religious authority carries power. Used wisely, it can galvanize communities toward justice. Used poorly—or not at all—it allows oppression to flourish. Ethiopia’s political, social, and economic systems are infiltrated by ethnonationalist forces that marginalize the majority. It is time for religious leaders—at every level—to mobilize followers for an inclusive, just, and humane society.
Internal colonization, inequality, and domination are real. Ethiopian religious leaders have historically resisted foreign colonizers and homegrown oppressors alike. Today, despite doctrinal differences, unity is essential. Moral courage is not optional: failure to speak out against killings, repression, and persecution will be judged by the people, by history, and by God.
In some regions, extremist attacks have burned churches, killed clergy and laypeople, and forced conversions. For Orthodox Tewahedo Christians, religion is inseparable from ethnic identity, language (Geʽez), and history. Forced conversion erases heritage, tradition, and belonging. Yet, for over 1,700 years, the faith has survived and remains central to Ethiopian civilization.
The battle today is clear: good versus evil, life versus death. There is no room for doctrinal disputes when human lives, justice, and Ethiopia’s future are at stake. Religious leaders must rise together, unite communities, and act decisively. The time for moral courage is now.
“In keeping silent about evil, in burying it so deep within us that no sign of it appears on the surface, we are implanting it, and it will rise up a thousand-fold in the future. When we neither punish nor reproach evildoers, we are not simply protecting their trivial old age, we are thereby ripping the foundations of justice from beneath new generations.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956
Academic & Scholarly Sources
Ademe, S. M. (2021). Ideological violence towards the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in the post-1960s. Politics and Religion Journal. https://doi.org/10.54561/prj1502377a
Crummey, D. (2006). Church and nation: The Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahedo Church (from the thirteenth to the twentieth century). In M. Angold (Ed.), The Cambridge history of Christianity (pp. 457–487). Cambridge University Press.
Liyew, D. M. (2024). Politics of secularism in Ethiopia: Repression or co-option towards the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church? European Scientific Journal, 20(11).
Persecution of Orthodox Tewahedo Christianity. (n.d.). Grokipedia.
Systematic persecution in Oromia: The role of militias and political actors in targeting Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. (2025). Borkena.
The shattered cross: A chronicle of state-sanctioned persecution against Ethiopia’s Orthodox Christians. (2025). Borkena.
Woybela Mariam Church incident. (2022). Wikipedia.
[i] https://youtu.be/XQZso_nY_cI?si=7ygVs7jcgfWwhPfO
[ii] https://www.americaoutloud.news/ethiopia-the-land-of-the-bible-brutally-targeting-and-killing-christians/
[iii] Insight, Addis (2023-02-15). “The Persecution of Ethiopian Orthodox Church Followers: A Comparison to Jewish Persecution Throughout History”. Addis Insight. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
[iv] Jörg Haustein (2014) argues that despite its fairly ubiquitous presence, there are hardly any academic publications about this new religious factor. The standard Amharic dictionaries do not yet include the term ጴንጤ (pänṭe) and its correct spelling is not solidified. Obviously, the word is derived from the Amharic term for Pentecost (ጰንጠቆስጤ, pänṭäqosṭe), or the English “Pentecostal,” and as such it points to the Pentecostal movement. But how did Pentecostalism come to Ethiopia in the first place? Why has it become such a notable phenomenon only now, whereas in other African countries, such as neighboring Kenya, it has been around for much longer
[v] Jörg Haustein (2014) Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity in Ethiopia: A Historical Introduction to a Largely Unexplored Movement.Hatem Elliesie (ed.): Multidisciplinary Views on the Horn of Africa. Studien zum Horn von Afrika, 1, Köln 2014, pp. 109–127.
[vi] Ethiopia is an outlier in the Orthodox Christian world http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/11/28/ethiopia-is-an-outlier-in-the-orthodox-christian-world/
[vii] The statistical data are difficult to interpret, and precise figures remain contested. Nevertheless, the estimate cited may be plausible. Over the past five decades, large numbers of Amharas are reported to have been killed in episodes of mass violence. During a parliamentary discussion approximately twelve years ago, an expert from the national census office stated that approximately 2.5 million Amharas were unaccounted for in the census data. The fate of this population remains unexplained. It has also been openly acknowledged by some political figures that the Amhara population is underrepresented in official statistics, yet public discussion of the apparent disappearance of large numbers of Amharas remains limited. It is reasonable to infer that, among those unaccounted for, an overwhelming majority were adherents of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
[1] Insight, Addis (2023-02-15). “The Persecution of Ethiopian Orthodox Church Followers: A Comparison to Jewish Persecution Throughout History”. Addis Insight. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
[1] Jörg Haustein (2014) argues that despite its fairly ubiquitous presence, there are hardly any academic publications about this new religious factor. The standard Amharic dictionaries do not yet include the term ጴንጤ (pänṭe) and its correct spelling is not solidified. Obviously, the word is derived from the Amharic term for Pentecost (ጰንጠቆስጤ, pänṭäqosṭe), or the English “Pentecostal,” and as such it points to the Pentecostal movement. But how did Pentecostalism come to Ethiopia in the first place? Why has it become such a notable phenomenon only now, whereas in other African countries, such as neighboring Kenya, it has been around for much longer
[1] Jörg Haustein (2014) Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity in Ethiopia: A Historical Introduction to a Largely Unexplored Movement.Hatem Elliesie (ed.): Multidisciplinary Views on the Horn of Africa. Studien zum Horn von Afrika, 1, Köln 2014, pp. 109–127.
[1] Ethiopia is an outlier in the Orthodox Christian world http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/11/28/ethiopia-is-an-outlier-in-the-orthodox-christian-world/
[1] The statistical data are difficult to interpret, and precise figures remain contested. Nevertheless, the estimate cited may be plausible. Over the past five decades, large numbers of Amharas are reported to have been killed in episodes of mass violence. During a parliamentary discussion approximately twelve years ago, an expert from the national census office stated that approximately 2.5 million Amharas were unaccounted for in the census data. The fate of this population remains unexplained. It has also been openly acknowledged by some political figures that the Amhara population is underrepresented in official statistics, yet public discussion of the apparent disappearance of large numbers of Amharas remains limited. It is reasonable to infer that, among those unaccounted for, an overwhelming majority were adherents of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
