Radio Erena: 03 December 2014
Eritrean Orthodox Churches in Israel are alleging each other for hostilities and instabilities between their churches caused by the continuous interferences in the religious administrations by the government of Eritrea, reports Erena Radio source from the area.
The standoff between the two Orthodox churches, known as Mariam Tewahdo Orthodox Church and Medhanie Alem Tewahdo Orthodox Church, in Israel has been going on for the past four years, which caused hostilities within the churches and their followers.
According to the Radio Erena sources citing some members distraught by the situation, who preferred to be called as ‘concerned members of the churches’ , leaked classified letters from the government of Eritrea where Eritrea’s Ambassador to Israel – Tesfamariam Tekeste was copied to, reveal that one of the churches has been under the government’s administration [contrary to the policy of the government on the separation of Church and State] and that there has been an impasse not only between the members and the Sunday school students of the two churches but also the clergy.
The concerned members of the churches said they have confirmed the information on the letter was true and noted that they are hopeful the hostilities among their fellow church community members and the clergy of the two churches would be resolved successfully.
The concerned members also pointed out the letters dated 16th of September and 3rd of November this year are indicative of the continuous interferences by the government of Eritrea. They further noted that the letters carry warnings to the Medhanie Alem Tewahdo Orthodox Church administration barring them from utilizing the thousands of offerings collected from their members and followers, which are majority – Eritrean immigrants.
Similarly, Eritrean Orthodox Churches in Uganda and other countries face such kind of interferences by the government of Eritrea and this has been initiating hostilities amongst Eritrean communities, especially, between the church members who are in the opposition camp and sympathizers of the government.
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