FIDES | Aug. 8, 2018
Addis Ababa (Agenzia Fides) – Patriarch Matthias I and the Holy Synod of the Tewahedo Orthodox Church of Ethiopia have decided to offer 16 days of fasting and prayer that precede and follow the liturgical solemnity of the Dormition of St Mary Mother of God – (celebrated August 15), to invoke the gift of peace and reconciliation in Jijiga and in the Somali region, after ethnic violence, which in recent days, exploded in that part of Ethiopia, causing about 30 victims. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has paid a high price due to the spiral of violence: according to information by local media, at least seven Orthodox churches have been attacked and set on fire, and local sources speak of at least six priests and several faithful killed.