Ethiopia & the Ethiopian Orthodox Church are two sides of a coin : the Patriarch
Ethiopian Orthodox Church launches 24-hour TV channel
June 28, 2016
By Kassa Nigus & Mesfin Zegeye
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church officially launched a 24-hour trial broadcast television broadcast. His Holiness Abune Mathias the patriarch blessed the inauguration of the television broadcast launch in which His Holiness made a statement. Archbishops, members of the Holy Synod, representatives of directorates of the patriarchate and board members of mass communications department attended the ceremony. The event took place on June 23, 2016. Excerpts of the Patriarch statement are summarized below.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, amen!
Congratulations!!! It is not far-fetched to make this tasteless world sweet through the salt of the Gospel. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” ( John 5:24 )
To all Ethiopian Orthodox Orthodox Church believers in the country and living throughout the world; praise, glory, and rituals be unto God, who is behind everything good. He has chosen us to hear His Word to the fullest through this media outlet.
Congratulations! For you are chosen to hear the sacred voice of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church through the modern media gadgets discovered by brains that God endowed his creatures with to put it to good use.
The Word of God is above all things. All creations emerged from His Word and stand firm through the Word of God. The Word of God has eternal life. All living things continue living through His Living Word. The Word of God enables people to receive eternal life and become free from eternal judgment today and in the future. There is no life outside of the Word of God. This truth is known to people through things God reveals Himself to them. God’s revelation takes place through three things:
1. God reveals Himself through His creation;
2. God reveals Himself through His chosen saints;
3. He reveals Himself through being a man.
Thus, the basis for the Christian religion is the revelation by God and His Works; and hence it is of central significance that we realize fully that philosophizing or any other worldly logic has nothing to do with Christianity.
Accordingly, the foremost and primary mission of the Church is spreading the everlasting and never-changing Word of God across the world; and hence it is unthinkable to bring in heretical, worldly, and erroneous ideas that the feeble human mind keeps on unraveling. Especially Ethiopia received God so long ago based on His revelations through:
• natural law
• the Old Testament (through the prophets), and later on through
• the New Testament.
This truth, Christianity, has been preserved by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church for millennia, is a living reality today and it will continue for the time to come as well. This fact is corroborated, in addition to the Word of God, by the history of the country and its blessed culture.
Thus, since the Ethiopian Church is in a state of continuous growth, the Church needs to transmit the age-old preserved Word of God through its media outlets not only locally but directly throughout the world and for that it has to employ modern tools the time makes available. Behold, the Church realized the inauguration of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church broadcast media to reach all the believers here in Africa, but also the Middle East, Europe, Canada, North America, and Latin America.
This media outlet is the wealth and property of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church believers, as well as being the face of the Church’s profile. As such believers shall support it in every way they can and provide it their utmost care for its success. We would like to express that the channel has a potential for a 24-hour broadcast which could be realized through the support of the laity.
Through this broadcast, the doctrine, dogma, rites of the Church, accompanied with its history will be provided to the laity and that way you will find Ethiopia in all that; because Ethiopia and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church are two sides of the same coin. When you learn about Ethiopian Orthodox Church, you also learn about Ethiopia; two birds with one stone, as the saying has it.
The Church considers media service a matter of priority since it is instrumental for both the young and adult to learn about their faith and its history, their country and identity, culture and tradition so as to enable them shoulder the responsibility to preserve their Church and take care of history. That way they can build a healthy society imbued with a sense of responsibility about country and faith.
Therefore, we deliver our fatherly message in the Name of God that the laity and particularly the youth to make maximum use of lessons provided by the Church and give it the support it needs. We hereupon publicly declare the inauguration of the trial broadcast of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church media.
May God bless you all!!
Glory to God!!
His Holiness Abune Mathias I, Archbishop of Axum and Ichege of the See of Saint Takle Haimanot .
June 23, 2016
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Source: Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church – Addis Ababa Diocese www.addisababa.eotc.org.et.