Ethiopia: attack in an Orthodox church kills two

Two people were killed and four others seriously injured in Shashemene, in the Oromia region, according to the Tewahedo Media Center (TMC), an organ of the Orthodox Church in this country.

Abune Henok, Archbishop of Addis Ababa Diocese, described the attack there as "

".

The TMC accused the security forces of having carried out the attack in the town located about 250 kilometers south of the capital.

It was immediately impossible to verify this information independently.

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Archbishop Abune Henok has called on authorities in Oromia, Ethiopia's largest region, to end the "

" of Orthodox Christians, according to the TMC.

The incident comes amid tensions within the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, after rebel bishops established their own synod last month in the country's most populous region of Oromia.

The unity of this Church, one of the oldest in the world and which accounts for approximately 40% of the 115 million Ethiopians, is therefore threatened.

The Tewahedo Church, led by Patriarch Abune Mathias for a decade, declared the split illegal and excommunicated the bishops involved.

The Church has also accused Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government of interfering in its affairs and making statements that effectively recognize the "

".

Mr Abiy, himself from the Oromo community, this week called on officials for dialogue and said both sides had "

".

Dissident priests accuse the Church of discrimination and linguistic and cultural hegemony, arguing that it does not speak to congregations in Oromia in their native language, complaints brushed aside by the patriarchy.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) issued a statement on Friday expressing its "

" over the tensions within the Ethiopian institution.

“

,” said WCC general secretary Jerry Pillay.