\n\n“\u201cPrime Minister Abiy used existing cracks within the EOTC and the influence of new evangelical movements to consolidate his power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After he received praise for supposedly unifying a divided Church in 2018, the EOTC is now more divided than ever, most notably in Tigray and Oromia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The role of the EOTC<\/a>, with its radical Mahibere Kidusan group\u2014along with the rise of Pentecostals and the Prosperity Party\u2014has been both a causative factor and fueling contributor to the Tigray war, and has produced a split within the Church in Tigray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond the role of Ethiopia\u2019s institutions in fomenting divisions, the Tigray war has also seen priests systematically targeted<\/a> and religious artefacts destroyed. According to a leaked official church letter, at least 78 priests were massacred in one zone in Tigray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, the Waldeba Monastery<\/a>, the oldest in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the al-Nejashi Mosque<\/a>, one of the first mosques in Africa, were attacked, with the former destroyed<\/a> and its monastic community brutally massacred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thus, while conflict in Ethiopia is typically framed according to its political and ethnic dimensions, religion and religious institutions have also played a central role.\u201d”<\/p>\n\n\n\n