The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has been at loggerheads with the government since an internal rift plunged the church into crisis in February 2023. “Abune Abraham’s passport was seized to prevent him from travelling abroad,” reads an Amharic post published on May 10, 2024. In the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the highest authority is the patriarch – currently Abune Mathias who was part of the delegation that travelled to South Africa on May 10, 2024. However, the claim that Abune Abraham was prevented from travelling to South Africa is unfounded. “Not true”The church explained that Abune Abraham had originally planned to travel to South Africa with Mathias, in a statement released on the same day the claim was published (archived here).

Source: Ethiopian News May 21, 2024 15:29 UTC