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.
Ethiopia: church attacked, then told to close and member arrested for ‘inciting religious clashes’
A Pentecostal church in Ethiopia has been ordered to stop meeting in a residential area, in the wake of a mob attack on the church, after which a church member was arrested for “illegal activities” that “incited religious clashes”. The Full Gospel Church in Tikil Dingaye, 20km from the historic […]
Ethiopian Christian attacked with machetes for evangelising
An Ethiopian Christian suffered deep wounds to the back of his head when he was attacked while alone in his home by a group of local Muslims with machetes The attack on 16 July left the 27-year-old man needing life-saving surgery. The man – who, for security reasons, cannot be […]
Ethiopians don’t have to pay for church they didn’t destroy
UPDATE [3 May 2017] – Three Ethiopians do not now have to pay compensation for a church which, in January, they were acquitted of charges of destroying. Tibebu Mekuria, Dawit Jemberu, and Belete Tilahun were freed on 18 January after a Supreme Court judge acquitted them on 13 January. The three had […]
Ethiopian state considers restricting ‘Christian activity’ to church buildings
Ethiopia’s northern Tigray State is considering adopting a new law that would restrict Christian activities to within official church compounds, rendering illegal the activities of smaller churches that do not own their own buildings and gather in houses. The law, if passed, would most affect Christians from outside the Ethiopian […]
Four Ethiopian teenagers leave prison ‘in good health’ after sentence for giving out Christian book
Four Ethiopian teenagers given a one-month jail sentence for distributing Christian literature are reported to be in “good health” following their release from prison on 22 December. The girls were found guilty of “inciting religious violence” and started their sentence on 25 November, despite three of them being minors. Gifti, […]
UPDATE: Ethiopian girls in prison for a book ‘countering attacks on Christianity’
Three teenage Christian girls yesterday (15 Nov.) appeared in court in Babile, some 550km east of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, charged with inciting religious violence. The girls, whose names were given as Eden, 15, Gifti, 14, and Mihiret, 14 – together with an older girl, named Deborah – were […]
Ethiopian village church attacked
A boy stands outside the church in Guder.Courtesy Open Doors International A church in a village 130km west of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, has been attacked three times recently by suspected animists angered over their evangelism efforts. On 30 August, a mob killed one Christian and injured around […]
Ethiopian Christians cleared of holding ‘illegal meetings’
An Orthodox church cut out of the rock in the town of Lalibela. North Ethiopia was one of the first Christian nations in the world – from the 4th Century.Courtesy Open Doors International UPDATE: On 26 Aug, four months after their initial arrest, a judge dismissed all charges against […]
Ethiopian Orthodox leaders jailed after protesting about persecution
A district court in Ethiopia has charged six members of an Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) with inciting public disturbance, destroying public trust in government officials and spreading hatred after it surfaced in the media that official complaints were made to the government about increasing persecution of Christians in a Muslim-dominated area in […]
A convert’s story
U.S. President Barack Obama visited Kenya and Ethiopia 24-28 July, partly to discuss regional security. In Kenya especially, Christians have been targeted by the violent al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab. In the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on 28 July, making an American president’s first speech to the African Union, Obama said […]