Urgent Justice to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church in Greece. Attention: The Hellenic Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs department, and the Athens Police

Under this special report, you will find the following subtitles: 

• The Ethiopian Orthodox Church foundation in Greece.
  
  
• The Ten-Year Controversy of the Ethiopian Orthodox church in Greece.
  
  
• The results of the 2025 Bishops' visit to Athens.
  
  
• The Greek Ministry of Religion is expecting a prompt and positive response regarding the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church Patriarch's letter.
  
  
• Greek security forces should take immediate action against criminals who are attempting to terrorize the Ethiopian Orthodox Church believers in Athens.
  
  
• To Generalized

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Gudayachn Special Report
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The Ethiopian Orthodox Church foundation in Greece.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church and the Greek Orthodox churches are among the ancient churches in our Globe. The first Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church patriarch visited Ethiopia in the 4th century. Aba Selama or Fremnatos was of Greek origin. In our modern world, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, founded in Hellenica, goes back about half a century.

In accordance with the 1996 (1989) proclamation and directives regarding the legal recognition and registration of Greek religious institutions, the “Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Athens” was registered as a religious institution in the country, and an internal regulation was prepared by legal experts and approved by the government of the country. The Church of the Holy Virgin of Athens, the Holy Covenant of Mercy, was registered as a religious institution in the country; this is now called (Somatio); the members of the Synod at that time informed His Holiness Abune Paulos (Dr.), the Fifth Patriarch of Ethiopia, about this matter. The recognition gave the church additional legal personality and also solved the problem of receiving documents that had been processed since 1994, according to a letter sent by the Synod. This association has a tax number (Tax No) of 997874156 and was established under the name “AΙΘΙΟΠΙΚΗΣ ΟΡΘΟΔΟΞΗΣ ΕΚΛΛΗΣΙΑΣ ΤΗΣ ΑΘΗΝΑΣ” to raise funds, raise funds, and resolve problems related to religious issues. Later on, the spiritual service continued under the name of the committees approved by His Holiness Patriarchal of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, Abune Gerima (Dr.).

The Ten-Year Controversy of the Ethiopian Orthodox church in Greece

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church in Greece faced challenges at different levels. The challenges have continued over the past ten years, and the sources of challenges originated from two different bodies. These were the Holy Synod of the Church in Ethiopia (recently adjusted the problem) and the misuse of resource administration by the former church committee, which exposed the church to theft.

The results of the 2025 Bishops' visit to Athens

In March 2025, the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church sent two bishops to Athens to visit Greece based on the report of the previously appointed Special Study Committee on the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Greece. The bishops, Abune Timothy and Abune Petros, were tasked with investigating the church’s affairs and presenting a recommendation to the Holy Synod.

During their stay in Athens, the bishops announced the reinstatement of Abba Woldemikhael's priesthood, which had been suspended nine years ago. They, the bishops, then announced that a new administrator would be appointed for the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Kidane Mihret Church in Athens and returned to Ethiopia to report the situation to the concerned Holly synod. 

The Greek Ministry of Religion is expecting a prompt and positive response regarding the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church Patriarch's letter.

The Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which came to Athens in March 2025, returned to Ethiopia and appointed Abba Kiros Tsegaye, who is known for his extensive experience and spiritual services, as the head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Athens. Abba Kiros Tsegaye’s assignment letter was written by the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Abune Mathias, directly to the Ministry of Religion, which is under the Greek Ministry of Education.

Currently, it is quite clear that the Greek Ministry of Religion’s failure to respond promptly after the letter has caused great dissatisfaction among Ethiopians residing in Greece. The hot issue, currently, is that the Ministry of Religion is to provide the necessary permission to Abba Kyros Tsegaye to enable him to get the necessary entry visa to Greece. There are reports that the Ministry of Religion will respond to the matter soon and will allow Abba Kyros to come to Greece, and this is eagerly awaited by thousands of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido church followers in Greece. In this case, the Greek government and the Ministry of Religion should pay close attention to this issue.

Greek security forces should take immediate action against criminals who are attempting to terrorize the Ethiopian Orthodox Church believers in Athens.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which was designated by the Ministry of Religion and its administrator, has been exposed to terrorists who are engaged in fraud and theft and who are also terrorizing the prayers at the place of ''Bohali 12 Polygono'' in Athens. The terrorists (Ethiopians gave them a nickname) are still creating problems among the believers and on the church that is waiting for the newly administrator, Aba Kiros Tsegaye. 

The individuals involved in this terrorist act are very few but known for their crime in Greece. For example, on November 10, 2024, after an assassination attempt was made by the same terrorist group in the church, the police arrived on time, and the injured person was taken to the hospital by ambulance. The case is under legal and criminal proceedings.

Since then, these terrorist individuals have been terrorizing the people verbally, mentally, and even physically on social media, and by phone also. To your surprise,  these individuals have not only made many attempts to call the police as if they were victims. Their negative action has also extended to conspiracies to create conflict between Greece and Ethiopia.

On the recent two Sundays, 15 and 22 February 2026, for example, the terrorists affected the praying time of the church, insulted the people, and threatened the priests physically. The attempt to push in by force the unauthorized priest by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church in Bohali, 12. The priest was prohibited from entering by an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church administrative issue in Greece, which was decided by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo permanent Holy Synod. Here again, the terrorist teams called the police as if they were victims. However, thanks to the hardworking and honest Athens police who took the rioters out of the church and took them in a police car, and they sang a spiritual song with the image of the Holy Covenant of Mercy and thanked God and the police for taking out the illegal entrants to the church. Currently, the individuals who are intimidating women and children are still trying to break down the church's door located at Polygono, Bohali 12. This has happened as of  Monday, February 23, 2026, and has not yet stopped till now. 

To Generalized

In general, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Greece is awaiting a quick response from the Greek Ministry of Religion. The new administrator appointed by the Holy Patriarch, Abba Kiros Tsegaye, should be brought to Athens as soon as possible. In addition to that, the Greek police should not only stop the harassment and beatings of the church followers by terrorists, but also bring the terrorists to justice. Greece and Ethiopia are countries with a history and friendship that goes back more than 3000 years. The Greek Orthodox Church and the Greek community school in Ethiopia are being governed under the highest state protection and in accordance with the laws and regulations of the country. Similarly, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Athens also needs attention. This is the voice of the majority. This article should be taken as a primary source of information. Long live the great Greece!

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