Although Ethiopia is a majority-Christian country, complex religious and ethnic tensions, combined with political and civil unrest, mean that pressure on Christians is very high. In the Afar and Somali regions, where ethnicity and Islam are interconnected, Christians can face hostility from family and community. The government is growing more authoritarian and has restricted religious institutions. Fanatical elements of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church also try to undermine other denominations.
Refusing to move, an Ethiopian congregation is arrested
The authorities in Ethiopia’s northern region of Amhara had told the Ethiopian Fellowship of Evangelical Students it no longer could operate in the town of Debark. They were ordered to move 80 km southwest, to Gonder city. The Evangelical fellowship didn’t budge. Instead, it lodged a complaint. Nothing happened. That […]
Ethiopia: Pressure on churches building; evangelical church told to vacate after ten years
An evangelical church in central Ethiopia has been ordered to vacate its building, 10 years after it started meeting there, and churches elsewhere in the region say pressure is increasing on them, too. The Mekane Yesus Evangelical Church in the town of Robe in Bale zone, about 400km southeast of […]
Ethiopia: Ethnic Somali Christian police man forced to relocate after talking about his faith
An Ethiopian police officer was arrested, dismissed and forced to move to another part of the country after he told colleagues about his Christian faith The 25-year-old man, who grew up in Ethiopia’s eastern Somali region as a member of the nearly 100 percent Muslim Somali tribe, became a Christian […]
Young Ethiopian Christians ‘bribed’ to convert to Islam, says charity
Young Ethiopian Christians are bribed with jobs and education prospects if they convert to Islam, according to the UK-based charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). A Christian religious leader who wished to remain anonymous told ACN that Christians who are poor were especially targeted. “The [Muslim employers] are […]
Ethiopian PM sends condolences to Orthodox Church after 15 priests killed
Ethiopia’s prime minister visited the leader of the country’s Orthodox Church on Saturday to express his condolences after 15 priests were killed and ten Orthodox churches damaged in the eastern Somali region last week. Among the priests killed were Rev. Kidane Mariam Nibretu, Rev. Yared Hibu, Father Gebiremariam Asfaw, and […]
Ethiopian Evangelical sent back to prison for ‘causing outrage to religious feeling’
An Ethiopian court of cassation has rejected an appeal by an Evangelical Christian sentenced to seven months in prison for “causing outrage to religious peace and feeling”. Temesgen Mitiku Mezemir, 24, the leader of an Evangelical fellowship group, was taken back to prison in the southern city of Arba Minch, […]
Ethiopian Evangelical who ‘outraged religious feeling’ given second chance to appeal
An Ethiopian court of cassation has said it will hear the appeal of an Evangelical Christian sentenced to seven months in prison for “causing outrage to religious peace and feeling”. The appeal hearing is scheduled for 9 May and follows the rejection of a previous appeal by a lower court. […]
Ethiopian Protestant loses appeal against prison sentence for ‘causing outrage to religious peace and feeling’
An Ethiopian court has turned down the appeal of an Evangelical Christian sentenced to seven months in prison for “causing outrage to religious peace and feeling”. In its verdict, published on 19 March, the court upheld an earlier sentence given by a judge in the southern city of Arba Minch […]
Ethiopian Evangelical sent to prison for ‘insulting’ Orthodox Church
A judge in southern Ethiopia has sentenced an Evangelical Christian to seven months in prison for “causing outrage to religious peace and feeling” following accusations believed to come from members of the predominant Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC). The judge in the city of Arba Minch handed down the sentence on […]
Ethiopian Christians arrested for ‘praying against government’
Seven Ethiopian Christians have been arrested and detained in the north-western town of Chagni on suspicion of praying against the government. A local source told World Watch Monitor the seven men, members of the Meserete Kiristos church, were followed and overheard by a local militia group when they went up a […]