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Ethiopia: Militants massacre 24 Christians, including two ministers, during church service

March 16, 2021

Persecution of Christians in Ethiopia: Despite the fact that Christians make up over 60% of the population of Ethiopia, they are still subject to sporadic incidents of persecution. Most Christians in Ethiopia are members of the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church, which separated from Holy Orthodoxy over the definition of the divine and human natures of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon in 451. The Order asks the government of Ethiopia to move swiftly to suppress the elements within the country that are persecuting Christians and destroying churches. Please pray for peace and security for the Christians who are suffering for their faith in this ancient Christian land.

For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in Ethiopia, see here.

“Militants massacre 24 Christians including two ministers in western Ethiopia,” Barnabas Fund, March 12, 2021:

Twenty-four Christians, including two ministers, were attacked and killed by armed militants in western Ethiopia on Sunday 7 March.

The Christians were attending a church service in Horo Guduru Welega zone (formerly Welega Province) on the eve of Ethiopian Lent, which began on 8 March.

According to local contacts, members of the militant group OLF Shenie, an offshoot of the Oromo Liberation Front thought to be active in west and south Oromia, surrounded the church and forced members of the congregation to hand over their mobile phones.

The armed men then killed the two ministers outside the church, before taking the other Christians to a nearby forest where they too were killed.

An unconfirmed BBC Amharic Service report said the church was burnt down in the attack….