June 26
During the night, students and disciples from the Felege Hiwot Orthodox Tewahedo School, located at Saint Gabriel Church in Mekelle, Tigray’s capital, were subjected to a mass forced conscription raid, locally known as giffa.
July 1
His Grace Abune Nathanael, the Archbishop of the Humera Diocese, delivered a powerful sermon centered on the theme: "The Church is Our City of Refuge."
During his sermon, the Archbishop directly addressed the authorities, declaring: "Wherever you are, whether you are in high authority or the lowest ranks, lift your hands off the Church! Lift your hands off our disciples. It is completely unacceptable for people to be pushed and dragged away against their will into a path they do not believe in or understand."
"We are standing by silently while our own hands and feet are being consumed. We are watching silently while our eyes are being gouged out. Our students must be allowed to study properly and systematically. Instead, they are being forced to leave the Church, which they sought out as their city of refuge, under the threat of beatings and intimidation to serve a cause they do not believe in."
"To those involved in this: withdraw your hands! Turn your eyes away! This will not end well for you. The Church has its own laws, its own path, its own principles, and its own responsibilities. Every person should strictly operate within their own jurisdiction and duties. If anyone meddles in matters that do not concern them, those meddling hands will soon be severed. The eyes that look where they shouldn’t will soon be blinded. Let us all work only on what concerns us. No one, absolutely no one, should interfere in affairs outside of their mandate."
"Most of all, we will not tolerate any such actions inside the Church, our true city of refuge. As long as we are alive, we will not allow our children to be forcibly dragged out of the Church. We will not allow the Church to be treated like an orphan with no mother or father, a playground where foxes run wild. As it says in the Lamentations of Jeremiah, Chapter 5: ‘The holy city of Zion has become a playground for the foxes.’ There is nothing more heartbreaking than seeing our holy city of refuge, the Church, become a playground for foxes."
"Therefore, let this be a warning to all of you who look upon this Church with ill intent: Back off! Keep your hands off! Do not touch our disciples and students. To touch the students and to scatter the disciples is to leave the Church without a future generation."
July 8, After Midnight
Gunfire was opened at the residence of the Archbishop. Later that day, His Grace Abune Nathanael spoke with BBC Tigrinya and BBC Amharic regarding the shooting.
He said he had received phone calls from "certain entities" demanding that he apologize for his sermon against the forced conscription.
July 11, Information Gathered by UMD Media
At approximately 4:00 p.m., His Grace Abune Nathanael was taken to the Axum Police Station, where he was detained until 11:00 p.m.
Authorities interrogated him, demanding to know if the sermon was his own message or if he was being directed by an outside force. His phone was confiscated, and he was subsequently placed under house arrest.
He is currently restricted from leaving his home and is barred from visiting the church without strict surveillance.
To date, the See of Selama of the Tigray Orthodox Tewahedo Church has remained silent regarding his house arrest.
Originally published on UMD Media Facebook on 2026-07-17T09:00:00-06:00. Source: https://www.facebook.com/getachew.UMDMedia