Independent Christian patriarchate in Ethiopia. Traditionally thought to have been founded by the preaching of the apostle Matthew or the eunuch of the Acts of the Apostles, the church was established in the 4th century by St. Frumentius and his brother Aedesius.
Based in Addis Ababa, the church adheres to Monophysite doctrine (&see; Monophysite heresy). It accepts the honorary primacy of the Coptic patriarch of Alexandria, who appointed its archbishops from the 12th century until 1959, when an autonomous Ethiopian patriarchate was established. Its customs include circumcision, rigorous fasting, and the participation of laypersons known as debtera, who perform liturgical music and dances and act as astrologers, scribes, and fortune-tellers. Its principal adherents are the Amhara and Tigray peoples of the northern and central highlands. &Seealso; Coptic Orthodox church.
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