[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 198 (Friday, November 20, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1063]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING ARCHBISHOP ABUNE MELKETSEDEK

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 20, 2020

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor His Eminence 
Archbishop Abune Melketsedek and his remarkable life committed to 
faith, knowledge, and compassion. With his passing at the age of 97, he 
leaves behind a legacy of undeniable virtue and resolve.
  Born in Megenta Kusquan in the province of Gondar, Ethiopia, 
Archbishop Melketsedek was identified at an early age as a prodigious 
student of the Church. At the age of 11, he was appointed to the 
diaconate at Debre Tabor Mehanealem, assuming the position of deacon 
for all the churches he visited. With a gift for scripture and 
unwavering devotion, he worked his way up through the Church, 
eventually becoming a close friend of Emperor Haile Selassie I and a 
trusted member of his cabinet. In 1959, the Emperor appointed the 
Archbishop to Director of Religious Affairs and tasked him with shaping 
a new clergy based on merit and integrity. He capitalized on his role, 
while also using his influence to support charitable organizations that 
established schools in Addis Ababa and rural parts of Ethiopia.
  In 1973, tragedy struck the Archbishop when the militant Derg Regime 
overthrew the Emperor and imprisoned and executed many of his cabinet 
and close associates. During the upheaval, the Archbishop was thrown in 
jail for over eight years. Amid this painful chapter, he remained 
resolute, spending his time as a counselor and spiritual guide for his 
fellow inmates who remember him as, ``a gift from God and father of 
consolation.'' Upon his release, His Eminence could not stand to see 
the destruction of his country and the debasement of his Church and 
began actively speaking out against the Derg regime which led to his 
exile from Ethiopia.
  The Archbishop found a new home in Berkeley, California where he 
continued his work as General Secretary of The Holy Synod of the 
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church. From the United States he flew all 
over the world to support and unite the members of the Ethiopian 
Orthodox Church. Archbishop Abune Melketsedek is a credit to the State 
of California and history will remember him as a good-hearted man with 
an unflinching commitment to his cause.

                          ____________________