STORY: Followers marched from churches to Jan Meda, an open field in the capital, while priests carried tents called tabots, replicas of the Ark of the Covenant that are sacred in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, one of the world's oldest churches. The faithful wearing white traditional fabrics chanted, sang and bowed down before the tabots. At the gathering on Saturday, Abune Mathias, patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, underscored the significance and symbolism of the day and called for peace, unity and forgiveness. He also urged Ethiopia's leaders to work and advocate for peace. A two-year conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region that ended in November 2022 drove people from their homes, destroyed harvests, leaving widespread hunger in the area.

Source: Ethiopian News January 21, 2024 03:44 UTC