

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church had been administratively part of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria from the first half of the 4th century until 1959, when it was granted autocephaly with its own patriarch by Saint Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria, Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is in communion with the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Syriac Orthodox Church, having gained autocephaly in 1959. It is a founding member of the World Council of Churches. One of the few Christian churches in sub-Saharan Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates back centuries, and has a current membership of about 36 million people, the majority of whom live in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan) is the largest of Eastern Christianity's branch of Oriental Orthodox Christian churches.
