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Some 60 miles northwest of the capital Addis Ababa, Merawi has two evangelical churches—the Meserete Kirstos Church and the Full Gospel Church. Since Protestant activities began in the area in 1987, both churches have faced growing persecution from the majority Orthodox Church leadership, who consider them a heretical sect and call them derisively "Pentes," or Pentecostals.

"Persecution has happened sporadically, by means of beatings, robbery and social isolation," one evangelical believer said.

Over the past 40 years, Protestant Ethiopians have grown rapidly from less than 200,000 to 12 million, nearly 20 percent of the population.

Copyright © 2002 Compass Direct

For more news articles, see AllAfrica.com and Christianity Today's World Report.

The 2001 Religious Freedom Report for Ethiopia said, "While the relationship among religions in society is generally amicable, there continued to be pockets of interreligious tension and criticism between followers of evangelical and Pentecostal churches, on the one hand, and Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, on the other."

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August (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46