The fake patriarch in Ethiopia is facing the worst crisis since he took over the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church’s (EOTC) leadership at the barrel of the gun 19 years ago. According to reports reaching Ethiopian Review’s office this week, alms collected from churchgoers have declined considerably in the past few days.
The EOTC members have decided to stop giving money to the Church after learning about the statue that Aba Diabilos (Tagay Gebremedhin) erected for himself and that he bought a fleet of cars for his personal use at the cost of millions of birr.
Desperate for money, Tagay Gebremedhin’s Synod has ordered priests around the country to ask members of their congregations for emergency donations of 1000 birr per family.
Church members are refusing saying that they are not willing to give money to be used for erecting statues and buying cars for Tagay Gebremedhin.
If the alms boycott spreads through out the country, it could lead to a revolt by the priests themselves who will be left with no salary.
Tagay Gebremedhin loyalists are accusing Abune Samuel, who was arbitrarily ousted last year, of being behind the alms boycott. Abune Samuel has been under house arrest for several months following his ouster.
Ethiopian Orthodox Church is said to have over 40 million members. Its legitimate leadership is currently in exile following its overthrow by the Woyanne junta in 1991.