Document #1001865
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
According to A History of Ethiopia,
the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has inherited most of the beliefs of
the old churches of the Syrians and Copts (1928, 156-57). The
Ethiopian Orthodox Church has six sacraments and there are two
kinds of baptism, including triple immersion and the commemoration
of the baptism of Christ in the Jordan (ibid.). For further details
on the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, please refer to the attachment
from A History of Ethiopia.
A reverend of the St. Mary's Ethiopian
Orthodox Church in Toronto provided the following information (22
June 1994). The Sacrament of Baptism is one of seven sacraments of
the church. The others are Confirmation, Penance, Communion,
Ordination, Matrimony and Anointment of the Sick. The sacraments of
Baptism, Confirmation and Communion are performed together. There
is no time limit on when a person must be baptized, but the church
encourages baptism at infancy. A member of the church is baptized
only once. Catholics and Anglicans who convert to the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church are not rebaptized, as these denominations share
the same Christian traditions as the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
However, members of other faiths or churches who want to convert to
the Ethiopian Orthodox Church must be re-baptized.
Circumstances permitting, the priest
performs baptisms in the morning. The person is taken to a river or
a pool and immersed "three times in the water in the name of the
father, the son and the holy spirit." Where a river or pool is not
available, the priest must pour water three times on the head and
must ensure that the water flows from head to toe. This signifies
the total wetness that results from immersion in a river or pool.
The church encourages parents to baptize male infants on the 40th
day of their birth, and females on their 80th day (as is the Old
Testament tradition). Before they can be baptized, adults are
required to know the teachings of the church, the Ten Commandments,
the Seven Sacraments and the Five Pillars of Mysteries of the
Church. The reverend did not elaborate. After the baptism, adults
must proclaim to the assembled congregation, their acceptance and
belief in the teachings of the church.
With regard to Confirmation, a priest
anoints all joints of the body with Meron, a special olive
oil prepared in Jerusalem by church bishops specifically for the
purpose. Confirmation is performed by the priest once he has
completed the baptism rites.
This response was prepared after
researching publicly accessible information currently available to
the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does
not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular
claim to refugee status or asylum.
Budge, E.A. Wallis. 1928. Vol. 1. A
History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia. London: Methuen &
Co.
St. Mary's Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Toronto. 22 June 1994. Telephone interview with reverend.
Budge, E.A. Wallis. 1928. Vol. 1. A
History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia. London: Methuen &
Co., pp. 142-164.
Contemporary Religions: A World
Guide. 1992. Edited by Ian Harris et al. London: Longman Group
UK Ltd., p. 147.
The Encyclopedia of Religion.
1987. Vol. 5. Edited by Mircea Eliade. New York: Macmillan
Publishing Company, pp. 173-77.
Ethiopia: A Country Study. 1981.
3rd ed. Edited by Harold D. Nelson and Irwin Kaplan. Washington,
DC: Department of the Army, pp. 108-17.