 Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church | |
|---|---|
| ቤተ ክርስትያን ተዋህዶ ኤርትራ Bet'ə K'rstian Tewahədo Ertra | |
 Enda Mariam Cathedral in Asmara, the seat of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church | |
| Abbreviation | EOTC |
| Classification | Eastern Christianity |
| Orientation | Oriental Orthodox, Orthodox Tewahedo |
| Scripture | Orthodox Tewahedo Bible |
| Theology | Oriental Orthodox theology |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Primate | Vacant |
| Region | Eritrea and Eritrean diaspora |
| Language | Geʽez, Tigrinya |
| Headquarters | Enda Mariam Cathedral, Asmara, Eritrea |
| Founder | The Apostle and Evangelist Mark in 42 AD Alexandria, Saint Frumentius in 328 AD Axum (according to the Eritrean Orthodox tradition), Abune Phillipos in 1993 AD Asmara (modern) |
| Independence | From the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in 1991 |
| Members | 2.5 million[1]–3 million[2] |
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The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church (Tigrinya: ቤተ ክርስትያን ተዋህዶ ኤርትራ, romanized: beta krstyan tawahdo ertra[3]) is one of the Oriental Orthodox Churches with its headquarters in Asmara, Eritrea. It was given autocephaly by Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church, after Eritrea gained its independence from Ethiopia in 1993. Thus, the Eritrean Church accords a primacy of honor to the Coptic Church.[4][5][6]
Sources differ on the percentage of Christians in the Eritrean population, with most figures being close to one-half,[7][8] although some sources report slightly more than 60%.[9] Almost 90% of Eritrean Christians are followers of Oriental Orthodoxy.[8] The rest of the population is almost entirely Muslim.[7][9]
- ^ "Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church". World Council of Churches. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
- ^ "Eritrean Orthodox Church". Lisan Tewahedo. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
- ^ "ወግዓዊት ዌብ ሳይት ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን ኤርትራ – ቀዳሚ ገጽ". www.lisantewahdo.org. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
- ^ "Eritrean Orthodox Church (Oriental Orthodox) Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com.
- ^ Ph.D, Mussie Tesfagiorgis G. (29 October 2010). Eritrea. ABC-CLIO. p. 157. ISBN 978-1-59884-232-6.
- ^ Melton, J. Gordon; Baumann, Martin (21 September 2010). Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition [6 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 993. ISBN 978-1-59884-204-3.
- ^ a b "Eritrea".
- ^ a b The ARDA website, retrieved 2023-08-03
- ^ a b http://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projection-table/2050/percent/all/ Archived 2017-10-26 at the Wayback Machine [bare URL]