Already strained relations between Ethiopia’s government and the Orthodox church worsened in December when an archbishop called on the army to oust Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Amid the tensions, a widely shared Facebook post surfaced in January 2024 alleging that Epiphany celebrations – a key festival in the Orthodox calendar – would be suspended unless the church condemned the religious leader’s remarks. But AFP Fact Check found the video used to back up the claim did not carry any announcement of a ban. The church also confirmed that festivities would go ahead as planned.

A video originally published on TikTok surfaced on Facebook on January 13, 2024, featuring a speech by Archbishop Abraham who heads the patriarch office of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

The video, which has been shared more than 960 times and viewed over 245,000 times, carries Amharic-language text overlays that translate to “Epiphany has been banned” and “you cannot celebrate (Epiphany) unless you condemn Archbishop Lukas”.

Archbishop Lukas is an Australia-based senior representative of Ethiopia’s Orthodox church who called for Abiy’s removal last month (archived here).

In the clip, which lasts five minutes and 40 seconds, Archbishop Abraham is seen talking but his voice has been replaced by a female narrator who says in Amharic: “The (government’s) Prosperity Party has told the church that it cannot celebrate Epiphany unless it condemns Archbishop Lukas. In an impromptu press conference held today, His Holiness Archbishop Abraham, head of the patriarch office, made clear the intimidation carried out by the party against the church.”

At 0’50”, the footage switches to the archbishop’s actual speech, in which he says: “The main committee set up to organise the Epiphany festival communicated during a discussion with government authorities that the church should denounce the alleged speeches of archbishops before the event.”

The female commentator returns one more time at 3’45”, saying that the archbishop in his speech had insisted on the church being free from external influences. The clip then reverses to the church leader’s own words again.

“The church has its independence. It has its laws, regulations, and systems to condemn wrongdoings and praise righteousness. It will not accept any order or request from any authority to take action,” he is heard saying.

A date referring to the Ethiopian calendar Tir 03, 2016, which is equivalent to January 12, 2024, is also included as text overlay at the bottom of the footage.

Archbishop attacks PM

The claim surfaced after Archbishop Lukas launched a virulent attack on Ethiopia’s prime minister, accusing him of killing infants and attacking monasteries in front of a congregation (archived here).

In the viral clip, he also called on the military to overthrow Abiy.

The remarks triggered a fierce debate on Ethiopian social media. However, it has not led to a ban on Epiphany festivities, as claimed in the misleading Facebook post, nor does the clip make any such announcement.

Press conference 

AFP Fact Check used the video verification tool InVID-WeVerify to conduct reverse image searches on keyframes from the footage shared on Facebook.

The results revealed that the video was originally published on the YouTube channel of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church on January 12, 2024 (archived here).

The original clip is nearly 42 minutes long and shows the full press conference held by Archbishop Abraham on the same day to address the tensions with the government ahead of the Epiphany celebration (archived here).

AFP Fact Check found that the misleading Facebook video had used several passages from the archbishop’s presser. At no point does he mention a cancellation of the festivities.

No ban

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church confirmed to AFP Fact Check that there was no ban on the Epiphany celebration.

“The annual feast of epiphany will be celebrated from January 19-21 as usual in a colourful way all over Ethiopia,” media spokesman Akalewold Tessema told AFP Fact Check.

He further noted that the festival is celebrated in collaboration with the government as a UNESCO-registered event.

“The preparation work is done. The stage and sound system at Janmeda (the Epiphany celebration venue in Addis Ababa) will be supplied by the Addis Ababa city administration,” he added.