Ethiopian Orthodox Church members battle for possession of Maxfield Avenue premises
BY BASIL WALTERS, Sunday Observer
The rift in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church widened on Friday after a group representing one fraction of the church went to its headquarters at 89 Maxfield Avenue in Kingston and, with the help of bailiffs, took control of the premises.
The group — which is loyal to [Aba Gebremedhin (formerly Aba Paulos)] in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and which recently won a law suit to claim the Maxfield Avenue headquarters — turned up with new locks and keys to reclaim the premises, and was met with hostility by the other members currently occupying the premises.
An animated Kes Wolde Dawitt (right) who led
the operation to repossess the Maxfield Avenue
headquarters of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church,
caught vigorously objecting to the presence of
the Sunday Observer. Looking on are members
of his flock including its trustee and financial
secretary Sarapheal Hemmings, at left.
(Photo: Joseph Wellington)
Since 1992 there has been a split in the church when the mother church appointed a new patriarch and Archbishop Paulos [Aba Gebremedhin] to replace the incumbent Mekrios, who was ill. A section of the church, led by the late Abuna Yesehaq Mandefro who was in charge of the Western Hemisphere branches of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, contended that the decision by the mother church was a violation of its cannon, which stipulates that an incumbent Archbishop cannot be replaced once he is still alive.
That led to a schism in the first ancient African Christian Church, and separation of its members, with those following the late Abuna Yesehaq declaring their independence of the mother church.
Here in Jamaica, those members loyal to the mother church stopped from fellowship at the Maxfield Avenue headquarters. They began meeting instead at the St Mary Anglican Church on Molynes Road — still observing the ancient rituals of the Orthodox Church. But some of these members, sources say, were automatically excommunicated from the Abuna Yesehaq’s-influenced Maxfield Avenue congregation.
The Molynes Road fraction eventually filed a law suit to claim possession of the headquarters, and on June 15 the court ruled in their favour.
The administrators of the Maxfield Avenue headquarters have since appealed, and a hearing has been set for next Tuesday.
“I’m not really happy about what is happening,” resident priest at the Maxfield Avenue HQ, Kes Gabre Selessie (Fitzgerald), told the Sunday Observer.
“It is a matter that have to go back to the court. they came here while an appeal is pending for the 27th of this month. We will have to wait until the court resettle this matter,” Fitzgerald added.
But Sarapheal Hemmings, a trustee and financial secretary of the Molynes Road fraction told the Sunday Observer that “the rite of possession has been issued by the court for us to come and picket. for the past two weeks they have been issued, and it’s just today we decided to come and takeover. So, we come this morning with the bailiff to just take possession of the place; we’re not here to run the people or anything. We’ve locked up the place now and we’re going to try to arrange a meeting with the administrators to see how we still can workout this thing peacefully,” Hemmings said.
However, Theophilus Dawkins, a member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church for over 30 years, accused the Molynes Road group of using “brute force.
“I am one of the foundation members here in Jamaica. Now, what they come and done this morning, is to try to dig off the locks and put on new locks, and try to force people to give up the keys for them to put on their locks. And we, the people, were telling them that we don’t want them.”.
“Dem come wid brute force, dem come wid di belly a di beast come tek ova di church,” he added.
The other members of the Maxfield Avenue fraction echoed similar sentiments.
One church sister also complained that a funeral service was about be prevented because the Molynes Road fraction had stated that they (from Maxfield Avenue) should no longer use that building.
“We have a funeral here for a member that passed off. She is supposed to be buried on the 25th; dem lick off the lock, put on dem lock and sey we can have no more service here. And she is a member here from she was young. Her name is Sistah Dotti and her baptism name is Amarian. She is from Trench Town,” the church sister said.
However, Fitzgerald told the Sunday Observer that the Molynes Road fraction had made a concession for the funeral to go ahead today, adding that this was the last service he would be allowed to conduct there.
7 thoughts on “Aba Diabilos tries to take over a church in Jamaica”
“ሁሉም በድለዋል” ይላል የእግዚር ቃል። አቡነ ይስሓቅ ከአቡነ ጳውሎስ የሚሻሉ አይመስለኝም። የጥፋታቸው መንገድ ይለያያል።
የሚያሳዝነው ግን ጃማይካ የሄድነው ወንጌልን ልናስተምር ነበረ፣ ልናስተምር ያሰብነውን ወንጌል እኛም ስለረሳነው የጃማይካን ምዕመናን ስንረብሻቸው እግዚር ምን ያህል ያዝንብን ይሆን።
What could be the main cause of the rift?
The main issue that caused a rift in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church is not about the person or the nature of Christ: it is not about the Eschatology or Christology or about the teaching that Christ has one or two natures. Such a complicated issue could not have been discussed or resolved by a lay person such as Abune Paulos. Doctrinal issues of this kind had been settled long time ago by the great theologians such as Eusebius, Athanasius, St. Chrysostom, and many other learned church men at the councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon with their catastrophic effects that divided the first apostolic church into East and West.
Abune Paulos, for sure, is not one of those learned men who discussed doctrinal issues at the highest level with great interest to understand the nature of Christ. In reality, Abune Paulos’ main interest so far has been in usurping Abune Merkorios’ patriarchate with the approval of his master Meles Zenawi, another lay man who cares nothing about the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church Canon that prohibits any Abune to be the patriarch of a church while the other patriarch is still alive.
His illegitimate patriarchate not confined to the churches in Ethiopia, his worldly lust for power over all the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Churches overseas uncontested, and his close relationship with the criminal Meles Zenawi more stronger than his spiritual relationship with his Lord Jesus Christ, Abune Paulos, the so called Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church at home, has recently sent his agents, the agents of the Devil himself, to Jamaica to claim church properties over there and to confuse those innocent church members as to which church they should belong.
No doubt in my mind and, perhaps, in the minds of other Ethiopians, that it is Meles who has created in the first place a schism in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church when he appointed Abune Paulos as a patriarch while Patriarch Merkorios, though ill, is still alive. Such a schism in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church serves Meles’ main political purpose – divide and rule; however, the greater sin lies on Judah Abune Paulos who betrayed his spiritual friend Abune Merkorios than on Pontius Pilate Meles Zenawi, a foreigner to Jerusalem Ethiopia respectively.
Abune Paulos has badly damaged the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church by creating unnecessary division within this historical church. Dividing a church on doctrinal basis is normal, and it has been done throughout the history of the Christian Church, but splitting a church on the basis of self aggrandizement, to me, is unethical. The split in the Ethiopian Tewahido Church easily enables other denominations such as the Coptic Church in Alexandria, Egypt, who has been harboring ill will against the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church since the Ethiopian Church became independent of appointing her own patriarchate, to supplant the Ethiopian monasteries at Deir Sultan, Jerusalem.
A divided Ethiopian Church is a week Church, and anything can happen to it: a political leader can use it for its own political purposes; a foreign power like Egypt can use it in order to satisfy the Coptic Church’s every day demand to drive out the Ethiopian monks from their legitimate holy place in Jerusalem. Even though Meles may not know it, a divided Ethiopian Church can also hurt his government in the time of war when one part of the church lines up on the side of the enemy to hurt the other part.
For all the damages His Holiness Abune Paulos, Patriarch of the Mother Church in Ethiopia, has brought to the members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church will be responsible. In the mean time, in the eyes of all the members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church Abune Paulos’ Patriarchate remains meretricious instead of meritorious.
These people are not the true church leaders.
Christ and his true followers the Apostles preached LOVE, PEACE, and brought the GOSPEL SALVATION. They did not preach us to collect worldly possession. They were never after buildings and property. They preached us to care for one another. Christ gave his life to save us from our own failings. And too his Apostles.
Show me 50 true followers of Christ in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, unless you go in the remote monasteries where you may find those who dedicated themselves to a life of Prayer.
All these bishops, patriarchs priests are after a life of indulgence, power, money. They wear the most expensive close, carry GOLD cross,(Christ was not crucified on a gold) have the most expensive car to drive them around.
And now look what they do – go to a worldly court to take away Christians prayer place.
I do not think we should let them destroy and distort Christ love for his Church and his people. I also think we should expose them for what they are, that they are using the church to live a worldly life and do not care the the poor.
Where do you find good leaders?
Dear Dan:
In our worldly eyes we may never find 50 good leaders in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, but in the eyes of God there may be millions of good people living somewhere and working for God in Ethiopia. We remember when the Prophet Elijah complained to God that he was the only prophet left in Israel, but the Spirit of God told Elijah that God had as many as 7000 men who had never worshipped Baal. The existence of such huge number of good men and women was hidden from Elijah, but such good persons were there in Israel. The same thing can be true in Ethiopia today; we just do not know.
You say: “Show me50 true followers of Christ in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, unless you go in the remote monasteries where you may find those who dedicated themselves to a life of Prayer.” There used to be good monasteries in Ethiopia such as Waldiba, Mahibere-Selasie, Debre-Damo, Debre-Bizen, Debre-Lebanos and many other famous ones and adherents of St. Pachomius in the old days. However, today’s monasteries have become the sanctuaries of criminals, mendacious, and worldly people. Abune Paulos is the product of such mundane monasteries that promoted him from hermitage to patriarchate.
What you said might be true: I cannot show you 50 people who truly follow the foot steps of Jesus Christ in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church – to bring salvation to the world, particularly to Ethiopia and to its capital city Addis Ababa, the head quarter of the two devils, Meles and his appointee – Abune Paulos. Once the Almighty God, revealing his divine plan to Abraham about the destruction of that wicked city, Gomorrah, said that if he could find 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, and even 5 good people in that city, he would forgive the sins of all the citizens of Gomorrah, but it is almost impossible to find even one person that pleases God. In fact, it was King David who said: “Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 53:3) That is why Ethiopia has a corrupt Patriarch and a corrupt Prime Minister. Nevertheless, God always forgives, and when he forgives, it is not because of our good work, but it is because of his grace.
I encourage the Ethiopian monks and hermits to get out of their cells and preach the Gospel to the world, get married, have children, and become priests, bishops, and patriarchs; almost all the great prophets and most of the Apostles had wives, and they had never been hindered from teaching the word of God the world over. If such things happen, I assure you, my dear Dan, I can find you more than 50 true followers of Christ in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church. Till then, pray to God to give the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church not only 50 but millions of good preachers and church leaders.
አቶ ኤልያስ ጳጳሱን ትተህ ምናለ እግዚአሄርን ብትፈራ- እንዴት አንድ ጳጳስ ከየትም ይምጡ በማንም ይሾሙ አባ ዲያቢሎስ ለማለት ትደፍራለህ:?
What is the update about the DSK Mariam and the Idir situation? you have not written anything for a while?
Assta B. Gettu,
Good points!!
Also on the other point you raised, in the Orthodox tradition it is married priest who preach and serve the congregation. Monks are not even supposed to live out side their monasteries. If they leave their monasteries they have to get a dispensation/permission from their Abbot. Yes, I know bishops are chosen by church elders from among those who are beyond any reproaches/blame. Today Count the number of monks even here in the states collecting money to keep it in their long dress deep pocket. We hear “RUMOR” in the churches that one of the monks from one of the cities here in the states, who collected large amount of money from his congregation, gave part of the money to aba paulos and got APPOINTED bishop. If true it is sad, disheartening and frightening.
Selam,
I use to think like you. But now I read the Bible ፓፓስ ና ንጉስ አይከሰስ ማለት ከንግዲህ የለም
Read what Jesus said to peter on Matthew 16:21
21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
23Jesus turned and said to Peter,
“Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
So if anyone is against Christ and his Gospel what is he if not a disciple of SATAN.
We all need to pray for ourselves and our Church