Baselios Marthoma Mathews III, Catholicos of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church was the chief guest at the historic Meskel Festival of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Addis Ababa.
According to an official statement, the visit was made at the invitation of Abune Mathias I, head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Patriarch of Ethiopia. The two Church heads jointly led the religious services held as part of the Meskel celebrations.
In his message, the Catholicos said that while India and Ethiopia were geographically distant, the two Churches shared close spiritual ties. The Ethiopian and Indian Orthodox Churches, as sister Churches of the Oriental Orthodox family, shared a spiritual heritage rooted in apostolic faith, prayer and the Cross of Christ, he said.
He also recalled the meeting of the heads of the Oriental Orthodox Churches held in Addis Ababa in 1965 as a significant milestone in the relationship between the two Churches.
The celebrations at Meskel Square in Addis Ababa were attended by government representatives, metropolitans, clergy, monastics and hundreds of thousands of faithful.
The Meskel Festival, which combines religious observance with Ethiopia’s cultural traditions, commemorates the discovery of the True Cross, on which Jesus Christ was crucified, by Queen Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, in the fourth century.
The Catholicos also attended the Holy Qurbana at Bole Medhanealem Cathedral following the festival. He returned to India on Sunday after completing his four-day apostolic visit to Ethiopia.
Published – September 27, 2026 07:22 pm IST
