Abune Yesehaq

Abuna Yesehaq, the late Archbishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) in Jamaica and the Western Hemisphere who died on December 29, will be buried in Jamaica on January 19.

According to a press release from the local chapter of the EOC, Abuna Yesehaq, who died at the Newark Beth Israel Medical Centre, Newark, New Jersey, USA, will be buried in a mausoleum on the church premises at 89 Maxfield Avenue, Kingston.

Formerly known as Abba Laike Mandefro, he is the first Ethiopian archbishop to have died in the Western Hemisphere. His body will lie in state at the National Arena from 11:00 am to 12 noon, and the funeral service will follow.

Abuna Yesehaq, who was 72-year-old at the time of his passing, had been a monk all his life. He was born in Ethiopia and grew up in the monastery from he was three years old.

“The most important reason he is being buried in Jamaica, is because he came here on a mission specifically directed by His Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie I, to establish the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. This was because of the love the Jamaican people have for Ethiopia and His Majesty,” said a spokesperson of the church, who told the Observer that it was also the personal wish of the Archbishop.

The priest, who in 1970 established the EOC here with branches islandwide, also established chapters in England, Canada, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, the US Virgin Islands, Guyana, St Kitts and Bermuda.

It was his life-long vision to erect the first Ethiopian Orthodox Cathedral in Jamaica, which is currently being built on the church premises where his remains will be interred.

(Source: The Jamaica Observer: Jan 7, 2006)