Ethiopian Orthodox Church Patriarch Abune Paulos passes

Ethiopia -- The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has announced the death of its patriarch, His Holiness Abune Paulos, reports theafricareport.com.

One of the few pre-colonial Christian churches of Sub-Saharan Africa, the Ethiopian Church has a membership of between 40 and 45 million, the overwhelming majority of whom live in Ethiopia, and is thus the largest of all Oriental Orthodox churches. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is a founding member of the World Council of Churches. (Wikipedia)

Abune Paulos (3 November 1935 - 16 August 2012) was one of the seven serving Presidents of the World Council of Churches, an inter-church organization founded in 1948.

Though referring to itself as Christian, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has a heavy reliance on the Old Testament in terms of dietary rules with regard to how an animal is slaughtered, prohibition of pork. Women are prohibited from entering the church during menses and worshippers remove their shoes when entering a church.

The patriarch assumed his title in 1992 to become the fifth official patriarch of the church.