His Holiness Abune Paulos passes away at 76

Addis Ababa, August 17 (WIC)–His Holiness Abune Paulos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, has passed away at the age of 76. 

He had been receiving treatment here at Balcha Hospital in Addis Ababa.

Abune Paulos studied at Princeton’s Theological Seminary in the US after receiving a degree in theology from Addis Ababa University. 

He was arrested in 1974 by Ethiopia’s military dictatorship. Upon his release, Abune Paulos fled to the US, where he spent several years in exile.

He returned to Ethiopia in 1991 when Mengisu Hailemariam’s government collapsed. 

The office of the patriarch is expected to hold an emergency meeting Friday to finalize funeral arrangements.