List of Abunas of Ethiopia
| Abuna of Ethiopia | |
|---|---|
| Bishopric | |
| oriental | |
| Incumbent: Mathias Since 28 February 2013 |
|
| Style | His Holiness |
| First incumbent |
St. Frumentius (Bishop) Basilios (Abuna) |
| Formation |
c. 305 (Foundation) 1959 (Autocephaly) |
| Website | eotc-patriarch |
This is a list of the Abunas of Ethiopia, the spiritual heads of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The Abuna is known officially as Patriarch and Catholicos of Ethiopia, Archbishop of Axum and Ichege of the See of Saint Taklehaimanot. Abune Mathias acceded to this position on 28 February 2013.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is part of the Oriental Orthodoxy communion, and it was granted by Cyril VI, Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, in 1959.
On 13 July 1948, the Coptic Orthodox and Ethiopian Churches reached an agreement that led to the elevation of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church to the rank of an Autonomous Church; allowing the Archbishop of All Ethiopia to consecrate on his own bishops and metropolitans for the Ethiopian Church and to form a local Holy Synod. The Archbishop, however, is consecrated by the Pope of Alexandria along with the members of the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
In 1959, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria granted autocephaly to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and elevated the Archbishop to the Patriarchal dignity and was enthroned with the title of: Patriarch and Re'ese Liqane Papasat Echege (Catholicos) of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The title of Ichege (Supreme Abbot) of the See of St. Tekle Haimanot of Debre Libanos was subsumed into the Patriarchate. The title of Ichege was revived and the title of Archbishop of Axum was added to the Patriarchal titles in 2005, as Axum was the seat of Ethiopia's first Bishop, and thus the oldest see in the church.
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