Five Religious Groups in Ethiopia Vow to Promote Peace

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5/11/2010

BY:
NEW BUSINESS ETHIOPIA REPORTER

Representatives of five religious groups in Ethiopia indicated their mutual readiness to promote peace and stability in the country amidst the doctrine difference among the organizations.

This is indicated during a peace talk organized by Religious Organizations’ Peace Assembly of Ethiopia, which is held at Ghion Hotel in Addis Ababa yesterday (October 4, 2010).

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, Ethiopian Catholic Church, Evangelical Church and the Seventh Day Adventist Church are the five religious organizations assembled to peacefully handle their differences.

Despite their difference in doctrine, leaders of the religious organizations participating in the conference agreed to work together as one to realize peace and stability in the east African nation.

Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Abune Paulos stated in his speech that the peace talk is the first of its kind to be held.  He also noted that the establishment of the Religious Organizations Peace Assembly in Ethiopia will assist in instituting peace and create cooperation among different religions.
“Let’s all be one and work together, as our poverty is the result of our failure to cooperate,” the Patriarch said.

Sheik Ahmedin Sheik Abdulahi, President of the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council, on his part indicated that the council will do everything in its power to achieve the goals of the assembly.  

Ministry of Federal Affairs, Dr Shferaw Teklemariam, also stated that the establishment of the assembly will help the country in overcoming poverty and bring peace and development to its people, and guarantee the rights of citizens, which are stated in the Ethiopian constitution.

The assembly has its own director under the Ministry of Federal Affairs. It is set to discuss different religious related issues raised by the organizations and will meet twice a month and make decisions on the issues raised.
The Assembly began its function last year and has 25 active members from the five religious organizations with common goal of creating peace and cooperation among different religions.   

Compared to other countries, Ethiopia is often mentioned as one of the nations where both Christians and Muslims live in harmony respecting each other while practicing their religions.

“Sub Saharan Africa, which is home of 820 million people, is prone to conflicts resulting from religion,” states ‘Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa’, a report released in April this year by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life.

The report shows that Sub-Saharan Africa now is home to about one-in-five of all the Christians in the world (21%) and more than one-in-seven of the world’s Muslims (15%).

The number of Muslims living between the Sahara Desert and the Cape of Good Hope has increased more than 20-fold, rising from an estimated 11 million in 1900 to approximately 234 million in 2010. While the number of Christians has grown even faster, soaring almost 70-fold from about 7 million to 470 million, according to the report.

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