Relations between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) and the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria are deteriorating over the issue of the monastery of Deir al-Sultan (‘Monastery of the King’), a courtyard with small dwellings and dome of the chapel on the roof of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church said.
The two churches enjoyed closer links and ties over the centuries, sharing common teaching and principles, and even the Coptic Church of Alexandria providing the patriarch of the EOC until 1950 but the monastery has increasingly become the subject of a feud that has gone far beyond its wall.
Speaking in connection with the 5-year anniversary of his election as Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Abune Mathias said that the dispute is posing serious threat to the relations of the two churches “because the Egyptians are becoming stumbling block to the urgent reparation effort of the complex that is the verge of collapse and they are even trying to take control of it,” he said.
Abune Mathias indicated that EOC controls the site and has the sole the authority to carry out repairs and during Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Addis Ababa on July 2016, the Prime Minister of Israel has expressed his government’s commitment to finance the restoration efforts. “However, the Egyptians are unfairly holding it up, saying we couldn’t renovate it without their approval and suggesting that they would undertake the task themselves with their own finances and architects.”
The Patriarch said that EOC strongly objects to that suggestion as Deir al-Sultan is an Ethiopian monastery and there is no reason why the Egyptians would be involved in the renovation project. He said he wrote a letter to the Primate of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Tawadors II expressing his concern that but the response has not been encouraging as the Pope said that the monastery should be returned to Egyptian church, Abune Mathias disclosed.
The Deir al-Sultan monastery was built on part of the main church roof more than 1,000 years ago. It has been occupied by monks from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church since 1808, but the Egyptian Copts say they own it and see the Ethiopians as illegal squatters.
Abune Mathias said when he visited Israel two years ago, he was promised by the country’s president that he would do his best to reconcile the two churches and the issue has been foremost priority for the Ethiopian Embassy in Israel.
The Ethiopian Church has six monasteries and 70 monks in the Holy Land, according to the office of the patriarch. A handful are stationed at Deir al-Sultan. The main parts of the Holy Sepulcher are divided between the Catholics, Armenians and Greek Orthodox.

(photo:Egypt’s Pope Tawadros II greets Ethiopia’s Abune Mathias I, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo)