Ato Gebremedhin (formerly Aba Paulos, also commonly knows as Aba Diabilos), who claims to be the patriarch of Ethiopia, has just erected a massive statue for himself in the center of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa. Aba Diabilos builds statue for himself — like Saddam Hussein — while ancient Ethiopian monasteries and churches are currently falling apart due to lack of funds. This is indeed one of the saddest moments in the history of Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
The following is a commentary regarding the statue and other developments in the Church.
መንፈስ ቅዱስን ካሳዘኑ፥ ቅድስናን ከጣሉ ተሳዳቢዎች ጋር መወያየት አይጠቅምም
በብፁዕ ወቅዱስ አቡነ መርቆሪዮስ ፓትርያርክ ርዕሰ ሊቃነ ጳጳሳት ዘኢትዮጵያ ለሚመራው በሰደት ላይ ለሚገኘው ሕጋዊው የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋህዶ ቤተክርስቲያን (ኢት.ኦር.ተዋ.ቤተክርስቲያን) ቅዱስ ሲኖዶስ ምንም እንኳ ቀኖናና ህገ ቤተክርስቲያን በመጣሱና ቤተክርስቲያኗ በአምባገነናዊ የመንፈስ ድቀት በተጎናጸፉ ዘረኛ ቤተክርስቲያኗ መሪ ቤተክርስቲያኗ በካህናቷ በምዕመናኗ ላይ እየተሰራ ያለውን ግፍ አስቀድማችሁ ያወገዛችሁ ብትሆኑም ምናልባት ቀኖና ጣሾች በንስሃ ተመልሰው ልብ ገዝተው ቤተክርስቲያኗ ወደቀደመችበት የአንድነትና የፍቅር መንፈስ ተመልሳ ህገ ቤተክርስቲያን ሊጠበቅና የቀደመ ቦታዋን ትይዛለች በሚል ቅን የእውነት እምነት “ወንድሞች በህብረት ቢቀመጡ እነሆ መልካም ነው፣ እነሆም ያማረ ነው ከራስ እስከ ጢም እንደሚፈስ እስከ አሮን ቂም በልብሱ መደረቢያ እንደሚወርድ ሽቱ ነው። በጽዮን ተራሮች እንደሚወርድ እንደ አርምኒኤም ጠል ነው። በዚያ እግዚያብሔር በረከቱን ሕይወትንም እስከ ዘላለም አዟልና” መዝሙር 132 በሚለው መሪ የእግዚያብሔር ቃል በህብረት በፍቅር ከወንድሞች ጋር ተቀምጦ ለመወያየት ያለ ምንም ቅድመ ሁኔታ ስለ ቤተክርስቲያን አንደነት ስትሉ ሰሞኑን ከጁላይ 24, 2010 ወዘተ… ጀመሮ ባሉት ቀናት ለውይይት ለመቀመጥ ተዘጋጅታችኋል።
አዎ እርቅ ያስፈልጋል የናፈቀንና የራቀብን ነገር ነው። ሆኖም ሰሞኑን አምባገነኑ በክህደት እባጭ በሞት አፋፍ የሚገኙት የቤተክርስቲያኗ የውድቀትና የድቀት ምልክት አባ ጳውሎስ ጭራሽ የምን ቀኖና ቤተክርስቲያን፥ የፈለኩትን ከማድረግ የሚያስቆመኝ የለም በሚል የቤተክርስቲያኒቷ ዋይታ እንዲጨምር፥ መሸከም እስኪያቅታት፥ እስከሚጨንቃት፥ ወደማትወጣበት አዘቅት በመጣል ህገ ቤተክርስቲያኗን በመጣል የክርስቶስ በሆነችው ቤተክርስቲያናችን ላይ ቀልድ፣ ኢ-ኦርቶዶክሳዊ ትምህርት ንስጥሮሱ አባ ጳሎስ ምንም እንኳ በስራቸው ከሞቱ የቆዩ ቢሆንም “ከሞትኩ ቆይቻለሁ፥ እናንተ ግን አይገባችሁም፣ ለኔ ከመስገድ በቀር” በሚል የንስጥሮሱ አባ ጳውሎስ መታሰቢያ ጣኦት ሐምሌ 4 ቀን 2002 ዓ.ም. በቦሌ አቆሙ። አይ ድፍረት!!!
አባ ንስጥሮስ ጳውሎስ ቀደም ብሎ ከሎስ አንጀለስ ጀምሮ የተወገዙ ቢሆንም ህይወታቸው በጨለማ ተጋርዶ በዚህ ቀደሙ ሳይፀፀቱበት ዛሬም ቀኖና ቤተክርስቲያንን በመጣስ በቤተክርስቲያን ትምህርት፣ ታሪክና ትውፊት የሌለ “በላይ በሰማይ፥ በታችም በምድር ካለው፥ ከምድርም በታች በውሃ ካለው ነገር የማናቸውንም ምሳሌ የተቀረፀውን ምስል ለአንተ አታድርግ ዘፀአት 20፡ 4-5” የሚለውን በመተላለፍ፣ የኦርየንታል አብያተክርስቲያናትን ትውፊት በድፍረት በመጣስ አስደንጋጭ ክህደት ስለሆነና የቤተክርስቲኡኗን መፅሃፍት የእውነት ምስክርነት የሚፃረር በመሆኑ፣ ትንሳዔ ሙታንን የሚያስረሳ ነውረና ስራ በመስራት ላይ ካሉት ከጣኦቱ ከንስጥሮሱ አባ ጳውሎስ ጋር በግል የምታደርጉትን “የእርቅ” ውይይት ከቤተክርስቲያኗ የወደፊት ትክክለኛ ጉዞ አንፃር በመመርመር ከንስጥሮሱ አባ ጵውሎስ የግል ግጥር ሰራተኞች ጋር የምታደርጉትን ውይይት በመሰረዝና በመገናናኛ ብዙሃን በማሳወቅ አዲስ አበባ የሚገኘው ቅዱስ ሲኖዲስ ልብ ገዝቶ ሁሉንም የሚወክሉ አምኖበት ወስኖ በመለያየት ቁንጮነትና መሰሪነት በስድብና ከክፉ ባሕርያቸው አድራጎታቸው ከማይጠረጠሩት ተወካይ ብፁአን አባቶች ጋር ታደርጉት ዘንድ እናሳስባለን። አዲስ አበባ የሚገኘው ቅዱስ ሲኖዶስ ሳይመክርበት ከሚመጡት አራት ሰዎች ውስጥ፤
1. አባ ገሪማ የአባ ንስጥሮስ ጳውሎስ እምባ ጠባቂ፥ የመለያየቱ ዋና መሪና ተዋናይ፥ ዛሬም የእርቁ ተቃዋሚ በፓትሪያርክ ላይ ፓትሪያርክ መሾሙን ቀኖና ቤተክርስቲያን መጣሱን የሚደግፉ የጥቅም ሰው ስለመሆናቸው ከዚህ በፊት ለ ቪ.ኦ.ኤ. የሰጡት ቃለ ምልልስ ስላለን በጊዜው በአየር ላይ እናውለዋለን።
2. ሌላው የግል ቅጥረኛ፥ ሰይፈ ይሁዳ ብንለው ይቀላል፥ መቀራረብ እንዳይኖር ብፁዓን አባቶች ላይ ጸያፍ ዘለፋና ቤተክርስቲያንን በማዋረድ በየሬዲዮ የተሳደባቸው መረጃዎች በእጃችን ላይ ይገኛሉ።
3. ንቡረዕድ ኤሊያስ የአባ ንስጥሮስ ጳውሎስ እንባ ጠባቂ ተላላኪ።
4. ብጹዕ አቡነ አትናቲዮስ እውነተኛ አባት በመሆናቸው ለእርሳቸው ያለንን ፍቅርና የመንፈስ ልጅነት ዛሬም በፅናት እንገልፃለንና ልክ ብጹዕ አቡነ አትናቲዮስን የመሳሰሉ ብጹአን አባቶች ጋር አዲስ አበባ የሚገኘው ቅዱስ ሲኖዶስ መክሮበት ብታደርጉ ይሻላልና (የአዲስ አበባው ቅዱስ ሲኖዶስ መጀመሪያ ከራሱ ጋር መታረቅ ይኖርበታል)።
አሁን ለውይይት ከተላኩት ሶስቱ መንፈስ ቅዱስን ካሳዘኑ ቅድስናን የጣሉ ተሳዳቢዎች ለቤተክርስቲያኗ ተለያይታ እንድትኖር መዘውር ከሚዘውሩት ጋር ውይይት ማድረግ የማይጠቅምና በአባ ንስጥሮስ ጳውሎስ ጭምብል የተላኩ “ብለን ነበር፣ እምቢ አሉ” የሚለውን የተለመደ ቅጥፈት ከማለት ያለፈ ለቀኖናና ህገ ቤተክርስቲያን መጠበቅ የሚፈይደው አንዳችም ጉዳይ ስለሌለ ለሌላ ጊዜ ብታስተላልፉት የምዕመንነት ምክራችንን እንለግሳለን።
“ዕርቁ፥ ጠቡ በአባ እከሌና በአባ እከሌ መካከል የተደረገ እጅ የማጨባበጥ ተግባር ሳይሆን ቀኖና ህገ ቤተክርስቲያንን የመጣስና የማቃለል፥ መንፈስ ቅዱስን የማሳዘን ተግባር ነውና የተፈፀመው” ግልፅ ሊሆንና ዛሬ ላለንበት የኢት.ኦር.ተዋ.ቤተክርስቲያን ጉስቁልናና ውርደት ተጠያቂነት ነውና በሁሉም ዘንድ ተወዳችነትና ተፈላጊነት ያላቸው የአዲስ አበባው ቅዱስ ሲኖዶስ አምኖበት ብፅዓን አባቶች ተወክለው ሲመጡ እንደሚደረግ ሆኖ የእርቁ በር ክፍት ቢሆን የተሻለ ነው።
ነፍሳቸውን ይማርልንና አለቃ አያሌው ታምሩ በአንድ ወቅት “ግለሰቡ አባ ንስጥሮ ጳውሎስ ቀኖና ቤተክርስቲያንን የሚፃረሩ የካቶሊክ እምነት አራማጅ ናቸው” በማለት አውግዘዋቸው በመቃብሬም እንዳይገኙ ብለው ነበር። እነሆ በገሃድ ታየ። ጣኦቱ ቤል ንስጥሮ ጳውሎስ ቦሌ ላይ ቆመ። ታዲያ ተዋህዶ ምን ትጠብቃለች? አለን የምትሉትስ የአዲስ አበባ ቅዱስ ሲኖዶስ አባላትስ ምን ትላላችሁ? ወይ ፍርሃት! ወይ አሳምኑን፥ ወይ እናሳምናሁ። አሁን የቦሩ ሜዳን ታሪክ መድገም እንሻለን። መቼም ከጣኦት ጋር ህብረት እንደማይኖራችሁ እርግጠኛ ከመሆን ጋር፡፡ ቸር ይግጠመን።
አምላካችን እግዚያብሔር ኢትዮጵያን ይባርክ!
ከፀሐዩ ደመቀ፥ ለንደን
NAIROBI, Kenya — A major security operation targeting Ethiopian immigrants was conducted in Nairobi on Wednesday night where 30 Ethiopians were arrested.
Police said the operation is part of tight security measures put in place to curb crime rates in the country and guard against terrorism-related incidents.
“The operation was conducted in Pangani area where 30 Ethiopian aliens were arrested. They will appear in court today (Thursday),” Nairobi PPO Anthony Kibuchi said.
Those arrested did not posses requisite identification documents legalising their stay in the country while others were found with fake documents, according to police.
Mr Kibuchi told Capital News similar operations will be conducted in other city estates, mainly those inhabited by foreigners.
This includes Eastleigh, Hurlingham and parts of Kileleshwa.
Security in most parts of the country including border points was stepped up since Monday, a day after two bombs were detonated at two social places in Kampala, Uganda killing 74 people.
As many as 100 others were wounded in the attack which Al Shabaab has claimed responsibility.
Military Spokesman Bogita Ongeri on Monday told Capital News that security had been intensified at Kenya’s border, mainly in the Northern part of the country which borders Somalia.
“There shouldn’t be cause for alarm, our borders are secured, we have round the clock patrols there and this has been enhanced after the Kampala bombings,” Mr Ongeri said.
In Nairobi, police said they had established elaborate security measures to help counter terrorism activities and other related incidents.
This includes holding regular meetings with representatives and operators of businesses at congested areas and bus terminus which can be possible targets for terror groups.
A security meeting held in Nairobi on Wednesday evening resolved to have divisional police commanders meet with such representatives to agree on the modalities that can be used to keep their areas safe.
Places like the Muthurwa market, the Railway station and the populous Gikomba market are some of the most congested areas in the city where such meetings will be held beginning Monday, according to police.
Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) that is gaining wide popularity in Ethiopia has announced today that its broadcast is back on air after a brief interruption.
“The ESAT team has worked hard to resolve the interference problem in the past weeks,” stated a news release posted on EthSat.com.
“We would also like to thank our viewers and supporters for all encouraging phone calls and e-mail messages,” the news release added.
Frequency: 11976
Polarization: Vertical,
Symbol rate: 27.5
FEC: 3/4.
Memher Zebene, the charlatan preacher who has been causing havoc at the MedhaneAlem Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Maryland, has finally succeeded this Sunday in taking over the church.
In the period leading up to Sunday’s vote, Zebene and friends have waged an aggressive “election campaign” like a politician. In their dirty campaign, one of the tactics they used was to intimidate and chase away several long time members of the church.
In the first place, the election it self is illegal since according to a long standing Ethiopian Orthodox Church rule, a new head of church cannot be chosen while incumbent head is alive. MedhaneAlem Church’s head is sick but still alive. To Zebene and his cult-like group of blind followers the church’s rule is meaningless.
Even after such a dirty campaign full of intimidation, where the church’s membership has dwindled down to less than 300, he has received only 190 votes. Many have decided not to participate in the illegal voting and 69 voted against him. With this many long time members of the church opposing him, Zebene cannot be a legitimate head of the church even if the voting is legal. If he has any semblance of integrity and care for the church’s well-being, he would not have dragged it through such ugly fight.
But as I stated in the past, Zebene is not a religious leader. He is a vainglorious cult leader and a thug who has no respect for Ethiopian Orthodox Church traditions and the Church’s elders and scholars.
His rude behavior toward elder church members, fellow preachers, as well as any one who questions him is appalling. A couple of years ago he even threatened to physically attack Addis Dimts Radio host Abebe Belew while he was on air.
In teaching the Bible, he some times makes up his own story. One time while preaching he said Ethiopia’s Queen Saba spoke with King Solomon in Amharic.
There are close to a hundred Ethiopian church in North America. All most all of them are providing needed spiritual service to their members with little or no controversy. These churches are being led by great, selfless Ethiopians who have no interest in profiting from the churches they are elected to lead. Unfortunately there are a couple of church such as MedhaneAlem of Maryland who are being hijacked by charlatans.
Prof. Chojnacki was a teacher and friend to a generation of Ethiopians
Stanislaw Chojnacki was a librarian, professor, historian and horiculturalist, but his friends will remember him as the kindest and gentlest person they have known.
“He never tolerated anything, he always celebrated what nature gave and that’s the lesson that I learned and that I will take with me to my grave,” said close friend Meron Yeshoa.
Chojnacki passed away peacefully on the weekend at Sudbury Regional Hospital at the age of 95. St. Casimir’s Church will hold a Funeral Mass on Saturday at 10 a.m. He will be buried in Poland. Many friends and family members survive him, including wife Grace and sister Zofia Pratkowska.
The former professor and library director at the University of Sudbury accomplished much in his 95 years and his efforts have not gone unnoticed. After spending more than 25 years in Ethiopia, he was recognized as an active member of the Polish and Ethiopian communities in Sudbury.
Born in Riga, Latvia Oct. on 21, 1915, he obtained a law degree at Warsaw University before serving in the Polish Army in 1937 and 1938. According to Chojnacki’s book, 25 years of service at the university college and the Institute of Ethiopian Studies in Addis Ababa from 1950 to 1975, the series of events that led him to Ethiopia began during the Second World War.
On Sept. 1, 1939, Germany attacked Poland. “My nine days of warfare was followed by close to five years as a prisoner of war in Germany,” wrote Chojnacki.
Once released, he worked four years in Rome before relocating to Canada in January 1950. In September 1950, Dr. Lucien Matte offered Chojnacki the position of Librarian at the University College of Addis Ababa, which Dr. Matte had recently founded. Chojnacki humorously recalled asking where in Canada Addis Ababa was located.
Not long afterward he discovered that the school was in Ethiopia and soon enough he moved overseas once again.
The University College was Ethiopia’s first attempt to establish a university in the country. It was inaugurated by the emperor in 1951.
Chojnacki fell in love with his work and the people of Ethiopia and founded the University College Museum of Addis Ababa in 1963. The librarian was a close friend of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie.
After 25 years in Ethiopia, Chojnacki decided to leave. He had lost many friends after the overthrow of the Ethiopian Dynasty in 1974, including the Emperor. He returned to Canada in 1976.
However, Chojnacki never forgot the people of Ethiopia.
Yeshoa recalled a touching memory of him. “I remember the first time I asked him if he had any children, he ran to his bedroom and he said, ‘Yes, of course. I have pictures to show you.’ He brought me an album and in [it] he was showing me pictures of very young and very very poor children in the poorest parts of Ethiopia.”
Chojnacki knew all the children by first and last name and would say, “This is my son so and so, this is my daughter,” said Yeshoa.
His love for plants, animals, insects and all people, regardless of colour, race or wealth made Chojnacki an inspiring person, said Yeshoa.
“What really touched me about him is the fact that he didn’t want to put [the children] out of their life. He went into their life. Almost every year he went back and he actually gave them love and support,” she added.
Yeshoa, who is from Ethiopia, met Chojnacki when a roommate, also from Ethiopia, was in search of a cultural community here. The roommate’s parents found one Ethiopian family, but they were leaving, so they put her in touch with Mr. Chojnacki. “He [was] just like an Ethiopian person,” said Yeshoa.
The professor was her roommate’s connection to Ethiopian roots and soon became an important part of Yeshoa and later her husband’s life.
“He was like a father to me,” said her husband, Gouled Hassan. Chojnacki’s kind heart and inspiring work touched Hassan deeply.
Another close friend, Andrzej H. Mrozewski, also had warm thoughts to share. Mrozewski was Chief Librarian at Laurentian University when Chojnacki became Library Director at the University of Sudbury.
The two shared an interest in fine arts and Chojnacki often worked in the garden with Mrozewski’s wife, Janina.
Mrozewski will remember him as a world-renowned specialist in Ethiopian art and doer of charitable work, for which he was named Knight of the Order of Malta.
Chojnacki’s academic works include Ethiopian Crosses: A Cultural History and Chronology, Ethiopian Icon: Catalogue of the Collection of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies Studies Addis Ababa University and Major Themes in Ethiopian Painting: Indigenous Developments, the Influence of Foreign Models and Their Adaptation.
— Lindsay Jolivet, The Sudbury Star
