EthioBlog

Ethiopian Patriarch expresses sorrow over death of Serbian Patriarch

Source: ENA

Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abune Paulos expressed heartfelt sorrow over the death of Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Pavle. The patriarch died on Sunday at the age of 95.

At a program held in Serbian Embassy here on Wednesday, Abune Paulos, who is also President of the World Council of Churches, said the death of the Patriarch is not only a loss for the Serbian people and the Church but also for all Christians.

The late patriarch has contributed a lot for the world peace and for the unity of people as well.

He said the good deeds of the patriarch will always be remembered. Abune Paulos also wished solace to the people and Orthodox Church of Serbia.

Serbian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Dragan Momcilovic expressed gratitude to Abune Paulos for expressing his condolence over the death of the patriarch.

Patriarch Pavle, elected to head the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1990, died of cardiac arrest during his sleep after having been hospitalized for two years in the Belgrade Military Medical Academy.

World Muslim Population hits 1.57B ; 28 million Muslims in Ethiopia

The number of Muslims in the world hits 1.7 Billion according to a new study of more than 200 countries by The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. This number represents about 23% of an estimated 2009 world population of 6.8 billion people. More than 300 million Muslims, or one-fifth of the world's Muslim population, live in countries where Islam is not the majority religion. For instance in Ethiopia Muslims make up about 33.9% of the population at around 28 million Muslims according to Pew.

Ethiopia has the second largest number of Muslims living as Minorities in the world with 28 million Muslims living in a majority-Christian country. And Ethiopia has the second largest Muslim population in Sub-Sharan Africa.

While 80% of the world’s Muslims live in countries where Muslims are in the majority, significant numbers – about one-fifth of the world’s Muslim population – live as religious minorities in their home countries. Of the roughly 317 million Muslims living as minorities, about 240 million – about three-quarters – live in five countries: India (161 million), Ethiopia (28 million), China (22 million), Russia (16 million) and Tanzania (13 million). Two of the 10 countries with the largest number of Muslims living as minorities are in Europe: Russia (16 million) and Germany (4 million). These minority populations are often quite large. For example, India, a Hindu-majority country, has the third-largest population of Muslims worldwide. The Muslim population of Ethiopia is about as large as that of Afghanistan. China has more Muslims than Syria; Russia is home to more Muslims than Jordan and Libya combined; and Germany has more Muslims than Lebanon

Sub-Saharan Africa, which includes 50 countries and territories, has about 241 million Muslims, which is about 15% of the world Muslim population. Nigeria has the largest Muslim population in Sub-Saharan Africa, with about 78 million Muslims (about 50% of Nigeria's total population). Almost one-in-three Muslims (about 32%) in Sub-Saharan Africa live in Nigeria. Western Africa is the only area in Sub-Saharan Africa with a Muslim majority. In contrast, the southern part of Africa has the smallest Muslim population.

Sub-Saharan Africa is also home to a number of countries that have very large Muslim majorities. Countries with the highest percentages of Muslim populations are: Mauritania (99%), Niger (99%), Somalia (99%), Mayotte (98%), Comoros (98%), Djibouti (97%), Senegal (96%), Gambia (95%), Mali (93%), Guinea (84%) and Sierra Leone (71%). The combined Muslim population of all these countries is about 67 million, or about 4% of the global Muslim population.

Read The Complete Report here

Anwar Mosque Addis Ababa Ethiopia

An Islamic history is a vital part of Ethiopia’s richness

By HA Hellyer

We are sorry if you get woken up by the Muslim call to prayer in the morning.” Those were some of the first words I heard at my hotel when I arrived in Addis Ababa, on my first trip to Ethiopia. I confess – I was a bit confused. Call to prayer? In the capital of a “Christian country in a sea of Muslims”, as Ethiopia is sometimes called? Perhaps I was in a Muslim quarter of Addis Ababa that had been recently established?

No, the situation was far more complicated than that, and one about which I had a surprisingly limited awareness. Most non-Ethiopians, including the immediate neighbours of Ethiopia, also believe that Ethiopia is predominantly Christian. The more sophisticated might believe that there is a Muslim minority – and it was to learn about that population that drew me to Ethiopia in the first place. But it is not a minority. About 55 per cent of Ethiopia’s parliament is Muslim and representatives from the country’s Islamic community insist they are at least 50 per cent of the population. While the US State Department estimates that this number is a bit lower, Islam might actually be the religion with the most adherents in Ethiopia.

Read Complete Article from The National

Ark of the Covenant will not be shown: Ethiopia priest

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The head of Ethiopia's Orthodox Church on Tuesday denied reports that he is about to unveil to the world the Ark of the Covenant that Moses is said to have stored the Ten Commandments tablets in.

Patriarch Abune Paulos said Italian media had incorrectly reported that he would place the Ark in a museum in the country's north.

"I am deeply disappointed that the Italian media misquoted me and disseminated false information about me unveiling the Ark of the Covenant to the world," he said at a news conference.

"It is a fabrication, disinformation."

"I would like to confirm once again that the Ark of the Covenant and the sacred tablets containing the Ten Commandments that God delivered to Moses are in Ethiopia," Abune added.


Read Complete Article from Reuters

Ethiopia - Ark of the Covenant Not To Be Revealed After All

If initial reports were to be believed, the patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia would have unveiled the Ark of the Covenant by now. Friday June 26, is almost over in Ethiopia. According to one blogger's account, it appears there is some misunderstanding between what was first reported in Italian and later translated to English. It appears that, adnkronos, the Italian paper that first reported the news, run a clarification in Italian, which you can read here.

Here is what Abuna Pauolos has said as reported in adnkronos

"Non sono qui per dare delle prove che l’Arca sia in Etiopia, ma sono qui per dire quello che ho visto, quello che so e che posso testimoniare. Non ho detto che l’Arca sarà mostrata al mondo. E’ un mistero, un oggetto di culto."

Translation courtesy of Google as follow. Another translation of the above statement is also posted here

"I am not here to give evidence that the Ark is in Ethiopia, but I am here to say what I saw, what I know and I can testify. I did not say that the Ark will be shown to the world. E 'a mystery, an object of worship."
via Google Translation

Another translation

"I am not here to give proofs that the Ark is in Ethiopia, but I am here to say what I saw, what I know and I can attest to. I didn't say that the Ark would be revealed to the world. It is a mystery, an object of veneration."
Translation from freerepublic.com

Another interesting read is from Baltimore's Examiner, you can read it here.

The story has generated huge interest in cyberspace which caused nazret's server to crash several times, we had a huge traffic spike that crippled our server in the past 24 hours. So there you have it, The Ark of the Covenant will NOT be revealed.

Now the other story, perhaps of interest to Ethiopians is, did Abune Paouls really see the Ark of the Covenant? Or is that a misunderstanding as well?