Abuna Yohannes XV
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Yohannes XV | |
|---|---|
| Abuna of Ethiopia | |
| Church | Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church |
| In office | 1939–1945 |
| Predecessor | Abraham |
| Successor | Qerellos IV |
| Personal details | |
| Denomination | Oriental Orthodoxy |
Abuna Yohannes XV was a cleric of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church who served as Abuna of Ethiopia (archbishop and head of the Church) from 1939 to 1945, during the final years of the Fascist Italian occupation of Ethiopia and the early restoration of imperial rule under Emperor Haile Selassie.[1]
The Second Italo-Ethiopian War (1935–1936) and the subsequent Fascist Italian occupation (1936–1941) disrupted both the Ethiopian state and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Italian authorities attempted to reorganize ecclesiastical leadership within Ethiopia, creating tensions with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, which had historically appointed the Abuna.[2]
Following the tenure of Abuna Abraham (1937–1939), Abuna Yohannes XV assumed leadership of the Church in 1939. Abuna Yohannes XV and his predecessor Abuna Abraham designated eleven bishops in order to constitute a full ecclesiastical hierarchy before the Italian occupation ended in 1941.[1]