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The DC Kidist Mariam Church's board started to stink like Woyanne

Posted on , Updated on by EthiopianReview.com

Ethiopian Review Editorial

The crisis that has engulfed the Debre Selam Kidist Mariam (DSKM) Ethiopian Orthdox Church in Washington DC continues to worsen. The latest development is that on Sunday, the Church’s board had called police on members and officials of the Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Idir who demanded the board to tell the truth. The DC police with five cruisers rushed to the Church when board member Abebe Aboye made an emergency call. The police left the church premesis grumbling after observing that there was no emergency. But the presence of the police inside the church served as a wake up call to many of the DSKM members who remained silent or indifferent ጆሮ ዳባ ልበስ up to now when their church is being taken over by a rogue group of opportunist individuals who wish to go back home and do business with Woyanne, à la Aba Melaku of another Ethiopian church in DC.

This Sunday’s confrontation started when board chairman Frew Bulbula told the congregation that a new executive committee has been elected to take over the Idir. This angered a lot of people who felt lied to. The fact is that there was a meeting on August 19 that was attended by over 150 members of the Idir. The meeting was held at the Cathedral Catholic Church in Washington DC after the DSKM board refused to allow it to take place inside the church’s meeting hall. At that meeting, the Idir members asked the current executives to remain in their position until the attempted ‘hostile takeover’ of the Idir by the DSKM board is repulsed. Funds were also collected to cover legal expenses. Unbeknown to the Idir members and officials, the DSKM board had also called a meeting on the same day where less than fifty of their collaborators showed up. Bililign Mandefro and cohorts told the participants that they are called to the meeting to elect new officials for the Idir.

Last week, when a relative of one of the Idir members died, Ato Seyoum Garedew, chairman of the Idir, gave $7,000 to the family of the deceased. However, on Sunday, Ato Frew Bulbula told the congregation that the Idir’s new board gave the money to the family. This outright lie inside a church angered several people who were aware of the fact. Some of them shouted: “stop lying!” It was this angry response from the congregation that caused Ato Abebe Aboye to panick and call the police. The church members were angry, and they were shouting at the board that is acting and smelling like Woyanne. But they would not resort to violence or engage in any harmful action inside their own church.

The DSKM board has the backing of some of the priests. After members of the church pointed out Frew Bulbula’s lies on Sunday, the head priest said, let them shout, they will get it in court! What arrogance (ዕብሪት) coming from a ‘spiritual’ leader!

Some who don’t know the story behind the story may wonder why the DSKM board is aggressively going after an independent idir (self-help organization) and its officials. After all, Idir by its definition is an ad hoc group of individuals who get together and contribute some money that is used to pay for funerals and weddings. In Kidist Mariam Idir’s case, they only pay for funeral expenses. The money that is in the bank — $300,000 — also is not that much. The DSKM board could spend close to that amount for legal fees alone by the time the whole thing is over.

The real issue behind the DSKM board’s attempt to take over the independent Idir is politics. As reported previously, the DSKM board that had been slouching toward the Woyanne camp for a long time is now out of the closet. They used to claim that DSKM is an independent church, i.e., they are under the authority of neither the Woyanne-installed patriarch in Addis Ababa, nor the legitimate patriarch who is currently in exile. Now, after … continued to next page >>

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35 thoughts on “The DC Kidist Mariam Church's board started to stink like Woyanne”

  2. Elias i thought you are a faithful oposition to woyanne, but you rushed to disrespect some of the positions. i my self doesn’t like woyanne but i never disrespect the church leaders. please try to stick with your politics. don’t say anything about the church. i think you know nothing about it. you just filled by the pro protestant bishops who hide here in the us and work hard to dismantle the church.

  3. Dear #2
    Is it not Elias who dismantles the church, the church leaders are the one who are dismantling the church. Elias reported the facts and the facts only. It appears to me that you are one of the so called church leaders to me who is attempting to disguise himself by saying I don’t like woyanne. If you don’t like woyanne then you don’t like the so called church leaders. It is as simple as that. What they have done last Sunday is not any different than a woyanne act.

  4. kechinu your thinking is very kechine too! those leaders in the church should be questioned as much as anyone else since they are the onces behaving with impunity. haven’t you heard about tagay paulos? being follower to the will of God and asking for accountability are two entirely different things.

  5. This is nothing but the continuation of a long time conspiracy against the exiled legal patriarch His Holliness Abuna Merkorios, by Dr. Getatchew Haile, Dr. Aklilu Habte, Billilign Mandefro etc. Their intention of taking over the leadership of the North American Orthodox Church by the so called “Mahibere Ze Tewahido” was hindered when His Holliness Abuna Merkorios arrived in the U.S. some years ago. So they had to come up with the idea of “we are not a member of this or that ‘Synod’. They tried that everywhere. They divided churches in Atlanta. They took over the church in Minnesota (where Dr. Getatchew resides). They created a conflict between His Holliness Abuna Merkorios and the late Abuna Yishak. I can say a lot. I live that to history books. The concept of “we are not a member of this or that ‘Synod’ is tactic to divide the churches in exile.

  6. Elias:

    Soon, the DSKM executive board will sue you for hundreds of thousands of dollars they collected from church goers. Do you have enough money to fight back if they decide to take you to court?

  7. እጅግ በጣም የሚያሳዝን ስራ እየተሰራ ነው:: ህዝብን መናቅና መብቱን መጋፋት መቼ እንደሚቆም አይገባኝም:: የእድርን ገንዘብ ለፖለቲካ ጨዋታ ለመጠቀም ተብሎ ይህ ሁሉ መፈጸሙ በጣም አሳዛኝ ብቻ ሳይሆን አሳፋርም ጭምር ነው:: የቤተክርስቲያኑ አስተዳደር ወደ እድሩ መጥቶ መንሰፍሰፍ የለበትም:: የእድር ገንዘብ በምንም መልኩ በቦርዱ ቁጥጥር ስር ሆኖ ለፖለቲካ ጨዋታ መዋል የለበትም:: ይህንን ማድረግ የሚችሉት የእድሩ አባላት ብቻ ስለሆኑ በጣም ቆራጥ እርምጃ ወስደው ሁኔታውን ማስተካከል ይገባቸዋል:: ነባር የእድሩ አመራር አባላት በተጨባጭ ያጠፉት ነገር ካለ እነርሱን አውርዶ በምትካቸው ሌላ መምረጥ ይኖርባቸዋል:: መብታችንና ግዴታችንን ማውቅ ይገባናል:: ስለዚህ የእድሩ አባላት የሆናችሁ ሁሉ ለማንም ለምንም ሳይሆን ለመብታችሁ ስትሉ ቦርዱ ከእድሩ እጁን እንዲያነሳ አድርጉ::ለሌሎችም ትምህርት የሚሆን ስራ ሰርታችሁ አሳዩ:: በህዝብ ገንዘብ ህዝብ መክሰስና መብት ማሳጣት መቆም አለበት::

  8. I agree with most of the writtings in your website. You are contributing a great deal in our fighting for a free Ethiopia.

    The only advice I have for you is to be a little bit cautious when you accuse individuals (individulas that proved themselves to be patriotic Ethiopians). Unsubstantiated accusations of true Ethiopians will do more harm to our struggle.

    I think it is neither fair nor justified to accuse/ defame individuals who have been consistently outspoken against the ill works of the regime and refused to go Ehiopia unil the country is liberated.

    Keep up the good work and be careful not to unknowingly help the evil regime by attacking individuals Meles & Co want to make them suffer in his hands, if he gets the chance.

    Please, Please take caution!!!

  9. What we want is the separation of church and State. We condemn the interefernce of Meles Zenawi’s regime in church’s business.

    We also demand the oppossition who are fighting to replace Zenawi to stay out of church’s business.

    Andenet, Washington DC

  11. Elias, You have a two page non sense article. As i have told you before, Please don’t mix politics with Religion is my advice…very ashmed and i hope that they will take you to court too.

  12. Of all members of the board, Billilign should at least have preferred to stay indifferent. I think he is trying to get a pardon from Woyane for the tarnished name he carries around due to the Red Terror past he had been involved in and sentenced. This should not have happened the way to do it. Dr. Aklilu and Dr. Getachew are true Ethiopians but very ambitious and power conscious. I really do not see what they can do after 80. It is only Firew Bulbula who could go back to Woyanne and continue on his already started business. They could all go peacefully without bothering the Idir. The question is why at this very juncture. Who are they trying to please and serve?

  15. ከማንም በላይ የብልልኝ ማንደፍሮ ከችግር ፈጣሪዎች ውስጥ መጠራት እጅግ አሳዛኝ ነው:: ቢሆን ቢሆን ላለፈው ስህተት ንስሃ የመቀበያ እድሜ ውስጥ ነውና ያሉት

  17. Shame, shame shame on Professor Getatchew Haile and Dr Akiliu Habte. They are the cause of disunity in exile. They both are power mongers. I agree with #5. when the so called ‘mahebre tewahedo fails those power mongers now created ‘mahbere memenan’ in Dallas.

  18. Accountability lacks in our culture. This is only the beginning. The churches in DC are all time bombs waiting to explode. The reason is you have corrupted priests, on one hand, and indifferent parishoners, on the other, who do not demand accountability from there spritual leaders due to fear of being cast out as sinners. Therefore, we sweep the dirt under the rug and we explode like fireworks when the corruption is filled to the brim. God save us.

  19. dear #2
    i disagree with what u said #2. u have no right saying that this news should be reported and that news is not news. i feel that elias is showing the real side of the church right now because i myself am ashamed to go there and i am a deacon too.

  20. It is very sad that those who planned to spend their remaining few years in Ethiopia are doing this kind of disgusting work against the faithful Ethiopians at their own church. Who is Akililu Habte or Bulbula? they can go back home without destroying the church for the satisfaction of Aba Diabilos, Gebre-Medihin.

  22. I am realy afraid of what Mariam church board members are doing. It is a shame for all of us who follow orthodox religion. Why did they chose to go to the court? Did they try as much as they can? I don’t think. Wake up people of orthodox christian. We must get involved to find out the truth!

  23. Elias,
    you are doing a good job informing the public about the problems that the government has given the church and the public in general. #19 i disagree with u big time u must be a mahere memanan to have said that!

  27. Yirdaw Belachew,
    Are you an Agazi killer pretending to be church goer? DSKM is infested with TPLF supporters pretending as priests and board members. Instead of feeding this so-called religious leaders please donate your money to the poor in Ethiopia through your relatives.

  28. እኔ የምለው እባካችው የቤተ ክርስቲያን ጉዳይ ከዚያው ይፈታ እንጂ:: ለምን በፍርድ ቤት:: ሰለ እግዚአብሔር ብላችው ተሰማሙ:: ከመካሰስ ምን ይገኛል:: እስኪ የይቅርታ ሰዎች እንሁን

  29. Denkoro yesemalet yabdal endemibalew regarading what is going on in Debre Selam Kidest Mariam church, most of us have known every thing there was every including the inside work of the priests who have been welcoming Aba Gebre Medhin’s so called archbishops time after time.

  32. ማ/ ቤ/ክ ሹሞች እውነትን ለመቅበር እንደ ወያኔ አባላትን በራሱ በአባላቱ ገንዘብ ጠበቃ እየገዙ በመክሰስ የማማንከራተታቸውና ስም ለማጥፋት መሞክራቸው እጅግ አሳፋሪ ቅሌት ነው::

  35. Billilign Mandefro is not only involved but is the master mind behind this whole mess! Elias Targeted Dr.Aklilu, Dr.Getachew and Dr.Alamaz but in my believe and according to his comment at several meetings, Billilign is the addvisor and so called defender of the boards action against the sued individuals.

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