With a historic show of unity, Ethiopian churches meeting at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey made the decision to establish a council of churches in their country.
The World Council of Churches (WCC) joined Caritas Internationalis, ACT Alliance, World Evangelical Alliance, and Lutheran World Federation in signing a joint letter to USAID administrator Samantha Power expressing concern over the suspension of food aid in Ethiopia.
World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Prof. Rev. Dr Jerry Pillay expressed deep concern about recent developments that massively affect the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and threaten its unity.
In drought-stricken regions in eastern Africa, churches and church congregations continue to pray for rain, as the weather conditions leave millions of people without food, water and pasture for their animals.
In a pastoral letter to “sisters and brothers in Ethiopia,” eight faith-based organizations expressed Christian love and care, as well as a commitment to accompany churches and people of Ethiopia as they face the challenges confronting their country.
Ethiopians have celebrated the annual festival of the Meskel (which means “cross” in Amharic), marking the finding of the “true cross” on which Jesus Christ was supposedly crucified. The festival is one of the major religious celebrations of the Orthodox Church in the Horn of Africa country. The main national feast - which occurs on 27 or 28 September - is held at Meskel Square in the capital Addis Abba.
This week world leaders are gathered in Davos under the very theme of “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World”. They do so at a time when we see poverty amongst plenty; hunger and thirst in the midst of abundance; shocking disparities in the quality of life between neighboring communities: real problems that the world has the potential and the possibilities to resolve.
The WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, and Abune Mathias, patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, affirmed their commitment in Addis Ababa to “continue working together to accomplish visions for justice and peace”.
