Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church

The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church that gained its independence from the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in 1994. Christianity was established in the region in the 4th century CE, and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church played a significant role in the culture and politics of the area, serving as the state religion until 1974.123

The church follows miaphysitism, believing that the human and divine natures of Jesus Christ are united in a single nature, a doctrine expressed by the word tewahedo, meaning "unity". This belief led to its separation from the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches for centuries. After Eritrea's independence from Ethiopia in 1993, the Eritrean church sought and was granted autocephaly from the Coptic church. Approximately two-fifths of Eritrea's population belongs to the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, with the rest of the population being primarily Muslim, Roman Catholic, or Protestant.12