Church says census is Doubtful

The census result recently released by the government is doubtful, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido church has indicated.

Megabe -serat Daniel Wolde- Gerima, Head of the Parish Councils Department,   Patriarchate Office, said that the government census has failed to include monks, nuns and disciples in remote areas of the country. According to the Department Head, his office is receiving many calls from the faithful who claim not to have been included in the census. Taking all this into account, the church finds it very difficult to endorse the claimed figures of the census, Daniel Wolde-Gerima has emphasized.

Though the new figure has increased the number of the church’s faithful  by about six million heads, it has shown a 7.1 % decrease compared to the results of the 1995 census ,which made the total number of orthodox Tewahido followers 26,877,660 ,i.e.,  50.6% of the total population. The newly released result has made the figure 32,438,126.

Since the central statistics Agency promised to make a revisit of the figures in the Amharic region, it is expected that the number of the Orthodox faithful will increase knowing the high intensity of believers in the said region, the head said.

The average of believers of the three church sponsored censuses of 2000, 2001 and 2005 was above 45 million.

The church has scheduled to make her own census in this year, 2009, and, according to the official, the results will be made public. Preparations are underway for the registration and, to make the process scientific, the church is consulting experts. In addition, the whole process will be carried out by professionals well-versed in both spiritual and modern know-how. Participants will be recruited from Sunday Schools, Parish Councils and Mahbre Kidusan.

Megabe-serat Daniel has called upon the faithful to make full participation knowing that the registration has a spiritual objective. Census dates back to the Old Testament and the faithful have been requested to be keen participants in the entire process.

It is also learnt that directives have been handed down to all staff from the Patriarchate Office to individual churches to give the faithful the due orientation about this upcoming census.

Invigorating Apostolic Tour conducted

An apostolic tour organized by Mahbere Kidusan's Head office has been conducted under the theme "Islamic Fundamentalism And Other Religions Issues." from 14-23 November 2008 covering Dodola, Adaba, Robe, Jarra and Ginir Towns of the Bale Diocese.

According to Father Zemichael Deresa, tour coordinator, some 30 thousand people have participated in the tour and five preachers were assigned for each district and they have executed their work very effectively.

The 30- men team of the Education and Apostolic Desk of the Head office said that it was not the first time for the team to organize educational mission in Bale which is being hard -hit by Islamic extremism. The recent tour was aimed at raising the awareness of the faithful to sort out peaceful Moslems from extremists, and keep up their peaceful co-existence with the former while keeping a watchful eye on the latter. The tour has become so helpful to participants and similar tours will be made in other parts of the country, Father Zemichael said.  

Meanwhile, there were participants who said they got no legal aid to address the transgressions of extremism which went as far as abducting their Christian daughters and marrying them.

Problems of Orthodox followers still unsolved

Problems in the Giorgis churches of Ashara and Bucha, Kacha Bira & Angacha Districts of the Kembata Tembaro Zone respectively, is still unsolved.

The conflict started due to the illegal snatching of orthodox holdings which has now grown to dislocating the faithful from their houses.

H.G. Abune Melke-Tsedeq, Archbishop of the diocese, has indicated that, though a court verdict has been passed confirming the Bucha Giorgis rightful holding of the baptismal site, the verdict is not executed yet. Parishers of Ashera Giorgis are also being harassed.

Heretics living in the environs of the two churches are busy sending an ultimatum of claiming the lives of parishers, it was learnt.

       
      Praise be to God. Amen!!