Ethiopia rings in a millennium of hope

The pilgrims of the Amen Ethiopia initiative with HH Patriarch Mor Ignatios Zakka I Iwas in Damascus.

While the situation on the horn of Africa remains tense, Ethiopians prepare themselves to sound the bell for a new millennium of hope for peace, reconciliation and transformation. The country, home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, follows its own calendar, which dates the birth of Jesus Christ seven years later than the Gregorian calendar. That is why on Wednesday, the 12 September 2007 according to the Gregorian calendar, Ethiopians celebrate the first day of the year 2000. The so-called Ge-ez calendar corresponds also to the liturgical year of the World Council of Churches’ two members in the country, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus.

Like the people in the home country, the Ethiopian diaspora looks to the new millennium as a chance to enhance solidarity and national understanding. Thus, on 28 July 2007, about 15 Ethiopian expatriates of diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds embarked on a pilgrimage leading from the Hague in the Netherlands, via Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Sudan to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

Everywhere they stopped, the pilgrims engaged in meetings and mini-seminars with the Ethiopian Diaspora communities, met with peace building groups and religious leaders. WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, who met with the group on 3 August, appreciated their aspiration to value unity in diversity. The Ethiopian catholic priest Dr. Joachim Persoon explains his motivation for the ecumenical pilgrimage: “Particularly in the present global situation of insecurity, it is important to raise a voice in favour of peace. The Amen Ethiopia initiative seeks to open a new chapter of mutual understanding and reconciliation in Ethiopia.”

See also the websites of
 

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
 

The Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus

 
The Amen Ethiopia Pilgrimage of Hope