$60 Million stolen from Ethiopian Orthodox church account

A member of the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church revealed that at least 60 Million birr is missing from the church’s account. The member, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, told local journalists this financial issue is one of the sources of recent dispute inside the church leadership.

Since the current Patriarch Abune Paulos replaced Patriarch Abune Merkorios, there have been several allegations and accusations over unaccounted for assets during the last several years. The new Patriarch Abune Paulos has been credited for restoring most of the church’s property seized by the former government of Mengistu Haile Mariam. However, millions more dollars worth in property and other church assets have been lost during and since the transition period, according to the source.

These concerns have allegedly added fuel to the clashes between the Patriarch's group and some archbishops, including the suspended Abune Samuel. While the situation has calmed over the last few days, many expect the dispute to restart when the Holy Synod assembles after two months, unless the underlying problems are addressed.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) claims to have a membership of 45 Million Ethiopians but the last official Census put its membership at 32.1 Million or 43.5% of the total population of Ethiopia. Despite losing nearly fifteen percent of its overall members to the rapidly growing Ethiopian Evangelical churches, which have grown to 18.6 percent of the country, Orthodox is still the largest religious denomination in Ethiopia.

EOTC has seen declining membership among various ethnic groups, particularly in the southern states including Oromia. An estimated 30.5 percent of Oromos are members of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. Language barriers, politics and the growing evangelical Christianity are said to be main causes for its decline among the Oromo community.