Archbishop Abune Timotheos of Ethiopia Enters Eternal Rest
Menetasnot Desta – Delegate of Horn of Africa & Head of Ethiopian Affairs – OCP News Service – 6/4/21
Addis-Ababa-Ethiopia: Archbishop Abune Timotheos (PhD) entered eternal rest on the 5th of April, 2021. He was 83 years old. According to the Secretary of the Holy Synod, Abune Yoseph, His Grace departed at midnight on Megabit 27, 2013 E.C (April 5, 2021A.D). The late Prelate was the head of the Holy Trinity Theological University and the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa.
Prayer services will be held on the 7th of April, 2021 in the presence of Patriarch Abune Mathias of Ethiopia. “The Prayer for the Reposed” will be offered for the late Archbishop and burial service will be held after the Divine Liturgy at 9:00 local time (3:00 PM) at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, which His Grace administered for several years.
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Bio of Archbishop Timotheos
The late Abune Timotheos was born in Tigray Regional State in the District of Bezet in May 1938 (Ginbot, 1930 E.C – Ethiopian Calendar). His Grace’s baptismal and formal name was Haile Selassie. He became a monk at the age of 15 years old at Debre Hallelujah and was named Abba Habte Selassie in 1945 E.C (1953). His Grace was ordained a deacon and a priest by His Grace Abune Markos the Archbishop of Eritrea in 1942 E.C (1950). In the year 1972 E.C (1980) he was ordained a Bishop by Patriarch Abune Takla Haymanot of Ethiopia His Grace was the first PhD holder monk in Ethiopia. He was introduced as such by the Martyr-Patriarch His Holiness Abune Theophilos to His Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie when he came back from Russia after completing his Bachelors, Masters, and PhD programs with honours from Leningrad Academy. His works on the Anaphoras of the Ethiopian Divine Liturgy and the Synaxarium were acclaimed. The latter was published as a post-doctoral thesis in the Russian Language with 800 pages.
His Grace was also educated in the traditional schools of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. His Grace served as an educator for 11 years at a monastery, then was the Dean of St. Paul’s Seminary for a year. Thereafter he served as the Rector of the Holy Trinity Cathedral with the title “Liqe Siltanat” for 3 years. Then, he was chosen as the head of the foreign relations department of the Ethiopian Patriarchate and later became the commissioner of the Development and Inter-Church Aid Commission for 11 years. He also was the head of Tinsae Zegubae Publishing House for 11 years. The late Prelate also served as Chairman of the Board of Convent at Sebeta, Gethsemane Bete Denagel Tebabat Monastery, for 21 years. His Grace was the head of the Holy Trinity Theological University since Senne 1, 1991 E.C (June 8, 1999).
E.S.G contributed to this article.
Source:
OCP News Service
