Posts falsely claim that Ethiopian government confiscated archbishop’s passport for SA trip

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has been at loggerheads with the government since an internal rift plunged the church into crisis in February 2023. When a church delegation embarked on an official mission to South Africa this month, a Facebook post claimed that the government had prevented Archbishop Abraham, the head of the patriarch’s office, from travelling and seized his passport. However, the church and the government denied the rumour. 

“Abune Abraham’s passport was seized to prevent him from travelling abroad,” reads an Amharic post published on May 10, 2024.

“His name was on the list to travel with the Holy Patriarch to South Africa, but his passport was confiscated and he was prevented from travelling.”

The post contains a photo of Abune Abraham who heads the church’s patriarch office. In the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the highest authority is the patriarch – currently Abune Mathias who was part of the delegation that travelled to South Africa on May 10, 2024.

The claim about Abraham was also shared here and here.

Synod and government relations 

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church faced a rift in January 2023 when three bishops from Oromia, the largest region in the country, established a separate synod (archived here).

The following month, the central synod announced the crisis had been resolved (archived here).

It also accused the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of meddling in its affairs during the crisis.

Relations worsened in December 2023 when Australian-based Archbishop Abune Lukas urged the army to oust Abiy (archived here).

In January 2024, the government filed a lawsuit (archived here) against him for allegedly committing crimes against constitutional order.

South Africa visit

A team led by Abune Mathias travelled (archived here) to South Africa on May 10, 2024, to attend the 25th anniversary of Tserha Tsion Holy Savior Orthodox church in Johannesburg and to bless other congregations.

The church’s public relations department shared reports and photos on social media showing the delegation at various events in Johannesburg (archived here).

However, the claim that Abune Abraham was prevented from travelling to South Africa is unfounded.

“Not true”

The church explained that Abune Abraham had originally planned to travel to South Africa with Mathias, in a statement released on the same day the claim was published (archived here).

“However, given the overlapping and urgent duties he has as head of the patriarch office, he has cancelled his trip to South Africa as a 10-day absence from his office would create a gap in daily activities,” the statement said.

The church further dismissed allegations about Abraham being banned from leaving the country.

“The news circulated on social media that His Holiness Abune Abraham was prevented from going to the airport and his passport was confiscated is completely baseless and fake news.”

Ethiopian government spokesman Legesse Tulu also denied that Abraham's passport had been seized and refused to allow him to leave Ethiopia for South Africa.

“This is completely false,” he told AFP Fact Check.