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Eritrea is a multi-religious country; Eritrea has two dominant religions, Christianity and Islam, with approximately 50% of the population being Christian and 50% Muslim according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). According to the Pew Research Center, 62.5% are followers of Christianity, mostly followers of Orthodox Christianity and, to a lesser extent, Roman Catholicism. Eritrea along with its southern neighbour Ethiopia was one of the first Christian countries in the world having officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the 4th century. At the same time, it was also one of the first Muslim settlements in Africa, where a group of Muslims facing persecution in Mecca travelled to Abyssinia, (now Ethiopia) through modern day Eritrea. Christians in Eritrea constitute to three main groups; the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church. The Catholic dioceses in Eritrea are the Eparches of Asmara, Barentu, Keren and Segheneity. In 2002, Isaias Afewerki, the president of Eritrea, declared all independent Protestant Churches, enemies of the state. For this reason, more than 2000 independent Protestants are detained due to their faith. ==Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church== The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church was granted autocephaly by Pope Joseph II of Alexandria, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria in 1950. At that time Eritrea was regarded as a province of Ethiopia, so the Coptic Church in Eritrea was simply a division of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Following the independence of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993, the newly independent Eritrean government appealed to Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria for Eritrean Orthodox autocephaly. Tensions were high between the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and no representative from the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church attended the official recognition of the newly autocephalous body. However, the Ethiopian Church has recognized the Autocephalous status of the Church of Eritrea although it objected to the method in which the Coptic Church went about granting it. Eritrea's first two Patriarchs were originally Archbishops of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and the first Patriarch, Abune Phillipos did visit Addis Ababa during joint efforts by the two Churches to explore a possible resolution to a border conflict that had broken out between the two countries in 1998. The two churches, remain in full communion with each another and with the other Churches of Oriental Orthodoxy, although the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, along with the Coptic Orthodox Church have not recognized the depostion of the third Patriarch of Eritrea, and the enthronement of the fourth Patriarch. The first Patriarch of Eritrea was Abune Phillipos who died in 2004 and was succeeded by Abune Yacob. The reign of Abune Yacob as Patriarch of Eritrea was very brief as he died not long after his enthronement, and he was succeeded by Abune Antonios as 3rd Patriarch of Eritrea. Abune Antonios was elected in 2004-03-05, and enthroned as the third Patriarch of Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Eritrea on 2004-04-24. Pope Shenouda III presided at the ceremony in Asmara, together with the Holy Synod of the Eritrean Orthodox Church and a Coptic Orthodox Church delegation. In August 2005, the Patriarch of Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Eritrea, Abune Antonios, was confined to a strictly ceremonial role. In a letter dated 2006-01-13 Patriarch Abune Antonios was informed that following several sessions of the church's Holy Synod, he had been formally deposed. In a written response that was widely published the Patriarch rejected the grounds of his dismissal, questioned the legitimacy of the synod, and excommunicated two signatories to the 13 January letter, including Yoftahe Dimetros, whom the Patriarch identified as being responsible for the church's recent upheavals. Patriarch Antonios also appealed his case to the Council of the Monasteries of the Eritrean Orthodox Church and to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Abune Antonios was deposed by the Eritrean Holy Synod. Many believe that Abune Antonios was wrongly deposed and still consider him Patriarch. Many Eritrean Orthodox followers disagree with the Eritrean government making decisions in religious matters. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Christianity in Eritrea」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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