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Ethiopian Orthodox Church Calls for Protection After 60 Christians Killed
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In Short: The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church reported that 60 Orthodox Christians were killed in two separate attacks in Oromia region.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church reported that 60 Orthodox Christians were killed in two separate attacks in Oromia region, with 14 killed in Merti district on October 20 and 46 killed in Sherka district on October 24.
Reacting to the attacks, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) told AFP that the violence was believed to be religiously motivated and targeted Orthodox Christians, citing the looting of an Orthodox church.
The attacks have intensified since February 2023, with ACLED noting an increase in violence against Orthodox Christians in the region.
The Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church called on the Ethiopian government to intervene, describing the killings as brutal and merciless.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church reported that 20 houses were burned to the ground in the attacks, and eyewitnesses reported that five of those killed were children.
Catholic bishops in Ethiopia have joined leaders of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in condemning the deadly attacks on Christians in Oromia Regional State.
The Archbishop of Jerusalem affirmed that Christians are part of the history of Ethiopia and that the attacks will not undermine national unity.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church reported that more than 25 innocent people were killed in East Arsi in October 2025 alone.
The region has long faced an insurgency and ethnic tensions among its Muslim, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian communities, tensions increasingly exploited by armed groups.
The church said at least 20 houses were burned to the ground, while eyewitnesses reported that five of those killed were children.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church reported that more than 25 innocent people were killed in East Arsi in October 2025 alone.
The region has long faced an insurgency and ethnic tensions among its Muslim, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian communities, tensions increasingly exploited by armed groups.
What this adds
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church reported that more than 25 innocent people were killed in East Arsi in October 2025 alone.
The region has long faced an insurgency and ethnic tensions among its Muslim, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian communities, tensions increasingly exploited by armed groups.
Background
At least 60 Orthodox Christians were killed in two separate attacks in Ethiopia's Oromia region.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church reported that more than 60 Christians were killed in two separate attacks in Ethiopia's Oromia region, according to the BBC and Voiceofpersecutedchristians.
What's confirmed
- At least 60 people have been killed in two attacks in Ethiopia's Oromia region in recent days, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church said.
- Reacting to the 24 October attack, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) told AFP that the violence was "believed to be religiously motivated and to have targeted Orthodox Christians", citing the reported looting of an Orthodox church.
- ACLED said attacks against Orthodox Christians in the region had increased since February 2023, with the violence intensifying over the past year.
- In a statement issued on Monday, the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church said 14 worshippers were killed in Merti district on 20 October and another 46 in Sherka district on 24 October.
- More than 60 people have been killed in a series of attacks on Christians in Ethiopia's Oromia region, according to the country's Orthodox Church.
- One resident, whose 75-year-old father was killed, described it as an ambush.
- (OSV News) — The Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church called on the Ethiopian government to intervene after armed assailants killed 60 Orthodox Christians in two separate attacks.
- “The horrific and appalling massacres, forced displacements, and physical and property damage inflicted upon our innocent Orthodox Christian faithful in the Arsi Eparchy and in various other parts of our country have continued unabated and have been worsening over time,” the General Assembly of the Holy Synod in Addis Ababa said in offering condolences.
- At least 60 Orthodox Christians were killed in two attacks in Ethiopia’s Oromia region on October 20 and October 24, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church’s Holy Synod said Monday, calling the killings brutal and merciless and pressing authorities to protect civilians.
- At least 60 Orthodox Christians have been killed in a series of brutal attacks on villages in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, where armed men reportedly went house to house, shooting and stabbing residents, including young children.
- October 27, 2026 By Junno Arocho Esteves OSV News Filed Under: Feature, News, World News (OSV News) — The Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church called on the Ethiopian government to intervene after armed assailants killed 60 Orthodox Christians in two separate attacks.
What's still developing
- Oromia is Ethiopia's largest region, with a population of around 40 million.
- Religious authorities said all the victims were Christians but provided no further details about those responsible for the attacks.
- MOSCOW, October 29 – The Russian ruble now accounts for up to… At least 37 Orthodox Christian civilians have reportedly been killed in a new wave of violence in Ethiopia’s Arsi Zone of the Oromia region, according to church sources, raising fresh concerns over security and communal tensions in the area.
- Published: 10:35 EDT, 23 October 2026 | Updated: 11:54 EDT, 23 October 2026 Gunmen killed at least seven people and wounded 34 at a church in southern Jordan today in a rare attack on Christians in the majority Sunni Muslim kingdom.
- Muslim religious leaders joined Christian clergy in mourning the victims, while tribal representatives from northern, central and southern Jordan traveled to Hamoud to express solidarity with the families.
- Eight people have died following a shooting at a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in southern Jordan, the health minister said on Saturday.
- Syrian officials said five people were killed in the Jordanian strike on a village in the southern Daraa province Jordan has struck what its military says were "terrorist organisations" in Syria in retaliation for an attack on a Christian funeral last week that killed nine people.
- Issued on: 23/10/2026 - 16:16 Modified: 23/10/2026 - 18:43 Seven people were killed and 34 injured on Friday when gunmen opened fire during a funeral at a church in Jordan ’s Karak governorate, the head of the country’s Public Security Directorate told reporters, in a rare attack on the country’s Christian minority.
- CCTV in Jordan showed what appeared to be gunmen running toward a Greek Orthodox church in Karak, Jordan, where seven people were killed in what King Abdullah II called an act of terrorism. (Jordan TV via AP) A group of gunmen stormed a Christian church in Jordan during a funeral Friday, killing nine people and injuring more than two dozen, according to authorities.
- The incident, which authorities described as an act of terrorism, occurred on Friday, Oct. 23, during a funeral at the St. George’s Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hmoud in Karak governorate, about 77 miles south of the capital, Amman, according to Petra, a government-owned news agency.
- Director of Jordan’s Public Security Directorate Obaidullah Al-Maaytah told a press conference on Friday that seven people are confirmed dead after the assault on a Greek Orthodox Church in the village of Hamoud. Twenty-seven of the wounded were receiving treatment in hospitals, he said.
- Political analyst Amer Sabaileh tells The Media Line that authorities have overlooked years of growing extremist sentiment, while another Jordanian commentator expresses confidence in the kingdom’s social cohesion The killing of nine people during a funeral at a Greek Orthodox church in southern Jordan has raised questions about the spread of religious extremism, the effectiveness of the kingdom’s security policies, and the future of coexistence between its Muslim and Christian communities.
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