ABSTRACT
The half century from 1941 until 1991 was one of the most eventful in the history of Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo Church (EOTC). This period witnessed a series of changes which were not only dramatic in and of themselves, but produced changes in church-state relations which still reverberate through Ethiopia and its diaspora. Within the specific context of Cold War politics, Ethiopia can be seen to
have switched its allegiance several times. Having begun the post Second World War period closely allied with and dependent upon Great Britain, Ethiopia sought – under the leadership of Haile Sellasie I – to cast its fate with the emerging superpower of the United States. However, the overthrow of the Emperor in 1974 and the rise to power of a Marxist military regime resulted in a dramatic reversal of superpower alliances in the Horn of Africa. The Soviet Union abandoned its Somali clients in 1977 in favour of Ethiopia, while the United States, having been spurned by Ethiopia, chose to support Somalia despite the latter’s territorial ambitions. As an ally of the USSR and the communist bloc, most notably North Korea and Cuba, Ethiopia was dependent for support on a regime which had severe economic problems. Eventually, the decline of Soviet support and the end of the Cold War played a major role in the fall of the ruling Marxist regime in May 1991. Today, Ethiopia finds itself once more in the American camp, with a particularly important geo-political position in the United States’ post 9/11 ‘war on terror’. In 1951 over 1,600 years of foreign leadership came to an end with the
consecration of an Ethiopian as Archbishop. In 1959 his elevation to the role of Patriarch marked the establishment of a fully autocephalous Church, and ushered in a new period of church-state relations. Although initially perceived as a great victory for both the EOTC and the Ethiopian nation as a whole, events during the ensuing decades revealed that this had produced a church hierarchy which was extremely vulnerable to state intervention. Indeed, since 1971 no Patriarch has been chosen and left office through normative Church procedures as changes in regimes have been accompanied by changes in Church leadership. Moreover, the deposition of Emperor Haile Sellasie I in 1974 and the abo-
lition of the monarchy severed a bond which had existed since the
conversion of served as de facto leaders of the Church. They appointed heads of monasteries, presided over Church councils and gave generous donations of land to churches and monasteries. In some cases the Emperor is even credited with composing theological treatises and homilies. This relationship ended with the downfall of imperial rule. At the same time, the nationalization of land and properties deprived the
Church of one of its major sources of income: taxes levied on peasants who worked or lived on Church lands. Initially, the disestablishment of the EOTC as the country’s national church was thought to mark the end of its role as a major cultural force in Ethiopian history. Ironically, these events can now, with a perspective of several decades, be said to have ‘saved’ the Church and forced it to adopt a grassroots approach which ensured its continued survival and relevance. Finally, the turmoil in Ethiopia resulted in what had hitherto been an almost exclusively locally-based confessional community with small enclaves of clergy in Egypt, Italy and the Holy Land, developing a widely dispersed diaspora population throughout much of North America and Europe.
