Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter

The 1992 split in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Jamaica has finally been resolved by the Supreme Court.

Mr. Justice Donald McIntosh has ordered the followers of the late Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq, who were running the church over the last 15 years, to hand over control to the duly appointed board of trustees.

The legal battle between the parties began in 1994 when the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) brought a suit in the Supreme Court against Yesehaq, who was formerly the Archbishop of the Caribbean and Latin America. After Yesehaq died, the suit was amended in 2006 and Lloyd Dobson, an administrator, substituted as the defendant.

Attorneys-at-law Raphael Codlin, Jacqueline Samuels-Brown and Tamika Gordon, who represented the EOC, argued that by Act 11 of 1978 the EOC was incorporated in Jamaica. They said the duly appointed Patriarch Abuna Gabriel had appointed a board of trustees in 1993 and that board was legally responsible for the running of the EOC.

Injunction

Mr. Justice Donald McIntosh ordered that the defendant, his agents or servants must hand over to the church, all properties in their possession or control belonging to the church. The judge granted an injunction restraining them from occupying, entering or interfering with the property of the church.

The defendant and his servants or agents have also been barred from doing anything to prevent or interfere with persons who wish to worship at the church.

The split took place in July 1992 when Abuna Paulos was elected Patriarch bythe Holy Synod in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, after the purported resignation of Patriarch Merkorios. Yesehaq broke ties with the administration in Ethiopia because he and his followers were opposed to Paulos' appointment because they were followers of Merkorios. The Holy Synod rescinded Yesehaq's appointment and later appointed Abuna Gabriel on October 8, 1992 to succeed him.

Gabriel appointed a new board of trustees for the EOC in December 1992 and the appointments were recorded in March 1993 at the Record Office at Spanish Town, St. Catherine, as required by the act.

Denied entry

The EOC claimed that Yesehaq falsely represented himself to be the representative of the EOC in Jamaica and consequently he and his followers in Jamaica continued to use the premises at 89 Maxfield Avenue, Kingston 13. The EOC contended that its members had been denied entry to the church premises and its officers and members of the board of trustees had never been given any proper accounting for church funds.

Mr. Justice McIntosh said there was in evidence a certificate of appointment of a board of trustees dated May 3, 1993. He said the certificate had been duly executed and registered in accordance with the act. The judge ruled that the persons named in the certificate were the lawful trustees of the EOC in Jamaica and were therefore entitled to hold property on behalf of the EOC.

barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com