Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church - Patriarchs and Bishops of Eritrea

Patriarchs and Bishops of Eritrea

After declaration of autocephaly of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church was recognised by the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria in 1994, the newly-established patriarchal seat of Eritrea remained vacant until 1998 when Philipos was elected Abune Phillipos and first patriarch of Eritrea (1998–2001). He was succeeded by Abune Yacob in 2002 and Abune Antonios in 2004. After fierce disagreements with the Eritrean government and internal strife in the church, Abune Antonios was deposed by the Holy Synod and put under house arrest by the government since January 2006, although he kept the title of Patriarch until 2007.

In April 2007, the Holy Synod elected a new patriarch, namely Abune Dioskoros who is the incumbent Patriarch of Eritrea although his reign is disputed by followers of Abune Antonios who endorse the latter as a continuing legitimate Patriarch of the church,

Bishops

The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church also has the rank of bishops for various communities in Eritrea and the diaspora. Among the members of the Eritrean Holy Synod of Bishops, there are two members who are also members of the Coptic Holy Synod, namely Macarius, Bishop of the Eritrean Church in the USA and Markos (Mark), Bishop of the Eritrean Orthodox Church in the UK.