List of abunas of Ethiopia explained

Titleoverride:	Abuna of
Bishopric:	Ethiopia
Border:	oriental
Coat Caption:	Ethiopian Cross
Incumbent:	Mathias
Incumbent Note:	Since 28 February 2013
Style:	His Holiness
Established:	350 1959
Cathedral:	Holy Trinity Cathedral, Addis Ababa

This is a list of the abunas of Ethiopia, the spiritual heads of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The Abuna is known officially as Patriarch and Catholicos of Ethiopia, Archbishop of Axum and Ichege of the See of Saint Taklehaimanot. The current Abuna, Mathias, acceded to this position on 28 February 2013.^[1]

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is part of the Oriental Orthodox communion, and it was granted autocephaly by Cyril VI, Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church, in 1959.

Bishops of Axum

• Abune Selama I Kesatay Birhan (St. Frumentius) (350–383)
• Minas or Elyas^[2]
• Abreham (late 4th century – early 5th century)
• Petros
• Abba Afse (late 5th century – early 6th century)
• Qozmos (early 6th century)
• Euprepius (early 6th century)

• vacant (537–562)^[3]

Metropolitan Archbishops of Axum and of All Ethiopia

• Qerellos (620s – mid 7th century)

• unknown
• Yohannes (820–840)
• Yaqob I (mid 9th century)
• Salama Za-'Azeb (9th century)
• Bartalomewos (10th century)
• Peter (920s), opposed by Minas and Fiqtor

• vacant (940–970s)
• Daniel (late 10th century)
• Fiqtor (11th century)
• 'Abdun, claimant
• Sawiros (1077–1092)
• Giyorgis I (1090s)
• Mikael I (early–mid 12th century)
• Yaqob II
• Gabra Krestos
• Atnatewos (late 12th century)
• Mikael II (1206–1209), opposed by Hirun
• Yeshaq (1209–1225)
• Giyorgis II (1225)
• Saint Tekle Haymanot (13th century), according to tradition
• Yohannes (XIII?) (14th century)
• Yaqob (III?) (1337–1344)

• vacant (1344–1348)
• Salama II (1348–1388)
  • vacant (1388-1398/9)
• Bartalomewos (1398/9–1436)
• Mikael and Gabriel (1438–1458)

• vacant (1458–1481)
• Yeshaq (1481– 1520)
• Marqos (VI?) (1481– 1530)
• João Bermudes (1536– 1545), self-proclaimed Ethiopian Orthodox Abuna, and Catholic Patriarch of Ethiopia and Alexandria
• Endyras (1545–?)
• Andrés de Oviedo (1557–1577), Catholic bishop
• Marqos (VII?) (1565)
• Krestodolos I (1590)
• Petros (VI?) (1599?–1607), killed in battle
• Simon (1608–1617), died 1624
• Afonso Mendes (1622–1632), Catholic Patriarch, supported by Susenyos I and deposed by Fasilides

• vacant (1632–1633)
• Rezek (1634)
• Marqos (VIII?) (1635–1672), deposed with Krestodolos
• Krestodolos II (1640–1672), deposed with Marqos
• Sinoda (1672–1687)

• vacant (1687–1689)
• Marqos (IX ?) (1689–late 17th century)
• Abba Mikael (1640–1699)
• Marqos X (1694–1716)

• vacant (1716–1718)
• Krestodolos III (1718–1745)

• vacant (1745– 1747)
• Yohannes XIV (1747–1770)
• Yosab III (1770–1803)

• vacant (1803– 1808)
• Makarios (1808)

• vacant (1808–1816)
• Qerellos III (1816–1829)

• vacant (1829–1841)
• Salama III (1841–1867)

• vacant (1867–1868)
• Atnatewos II (1868–1876), died of wounds received at the Battle of Gura
• Petros VII (1876–1889), died 1918
• Mattheos X (1889–1926)
• Qerellos IV (1926–1936), deposed following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War
• Abraham (1937–1939), installed during the Italian occupation
• Yohannes XV (1939–1945), installed during the Italian occupation

• Qerellos IV (1945–1950), restored
• Basilios (1951–1959)

On 13 July 1948, the Coptic Orthodox and Ethiopian churches reached an agreement that led to the elevation of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church to the rank of an Autonomous Church; allowing the Archbishop of All Ethiopia to consecrate on his own bishops and metropolitans for the Ethiopian Church and to form a local Holy Synod. The Archbishop, however, is consecrated by the Pope of Alexandria along with the members of the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

Gallery

Patriarchs and Catholicoi of All Ethiopia

No.	Portrait	Abuna	Reign	Notes
1		Basilios	1959–1970	Reigned during the 1960 Ethiopian coup attempt and the 1965 Conference of Addis Ababa.
2		Theophilos	1971–1976	Confirmed by the Emperor after his election.^[4] Deposed and arrested by the Derg;^[5] ^[6] executed by strangling in 1979.^[7]
3		Takla Haymanot	1976–1988	Met Pope John Paul II in 1981, in the first such meeting in modern times.^[8]
4		Merkorios	1988–2022	Deposed by the EPRDF, which claimed that he willingly abdicated. Headed the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Exile from 1991 to 2018.^[9] Entered into dual patriarch arrangement alongside Abune Mathias from 2018 to 2022.
5		Paulos	1992–2012	Reign disputed by followers of Abune Merkorios.
6		Mathias ^[10]	2013–present	Reign disputed by followers of Abune Merkorios until 2018.^[11] ^[12] Entered into dual patriarch arrangement alongside Abune Merkorios from 2018 to 2022.

In 1959, the Coptic Orthodox Church granted autocephaly to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and elevated the Archbishop to the Patriarchal dignity and was enthroned with the title of: Patriarch and Re'ese Liqane Papasat Echege (Catholicos) of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The title of Ichege (Supreme Abbot) of the See of St. Tekle Haymanot of Debre Libanos was subsumed into the Patriarchate. The title of Ichege was revived and the title of Archbishop of Axum was added to the Patriarchal titles in 2005, as Axum was the seat of Ethiopia's first Bishop, St. Frumentius, and thus the oldest see in the church.

Timeline

See also

• Coptic Christianity
• Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church
  • List of abunas of Eritrea
• Ethiopian ecclesiastical titles

Sources

• Modern Primates of Ethiopia (1694–present)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Abune Mathias elected as the 6th Patriarch of Ethiopian Orthodox Church . Ethioabay . 1 March 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130313075845/http://www.ethioabay.com/2013/02/abune-mathias-elected-as-6th-patriarch.html . 13 March 2013 . dead .
2. Minas according to the Gadla Afse, while Elyas according to the source of Carlo Conti Rossini in Acta Yared et Pantalewon. Sergew Hable Selassie, Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: United Printers, p. 116
3. Due to the exiling of Patriarch Theodosius I and his replacement with the Chalcedonian Patriarch Paul, according to an Arabic source. Sergew, Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History, p. 142.
4. Web site: New Patriarch of Ethiopia Is Approved by Emperor. 13 April 1971. The New York Times. 1 July 2022.
5. Web site: Patriarch Is Deposed By Ethiopian Regime. 19 February 1976. The New York Times. 11 June 2021.
6. Web site: Ethiopian Church Ex‐Head Is Reported Under Arrest. 2 March 1976. The New York Times. 31 March 2022.
7. Book: Dictionary of African Biography. 2 February 2012. OUP USA. 9780195382075. 7.
8. Web site: Around the World; Pope Meets Patriarch Of Ethiopian Church. 18 October 1981. Reuters. The New York Times. 1 July 2022.
9. Web site: Ethiopia's exiled patriarch Bishop Merkorios returns . BBC . 1 August 2018 . 7 August 2018 .
10. Web site: His Holiness Abune Mathias elected as sixth Patriach (sic) of Ethiopian Orthodox Church . The Sheba Post . 28 February 2013 . 28 February 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130308220756/http://shebapost.com/content/his-holiness-abune-mathias-elected-sixth-patriach-ethiopian-orthodox-church . 8 March 2013 .
11. Web site: Kibriye . Solomon . Ethiopian Orthodox Unity Declaration Document in English . Orthodoxy Cognate Page . 8 August 2018 . 27 July 2018.
12. News: Dickinson . Augustine . Decades-Old Schism in the Ethiopian Church Mended . 8 August 2018 . Ethiopicist Blog . 31 July 2018 . en.