List of Abunas of Ethiopia
This is a list of the Abunas of Ethiopia, the spiritual heads of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The Abuna is known officially as Patriarch and Catholicos of Ethiopia, Archbishop of Axum and Ichege of the See of Saint Taklehaimanot. Abune Merkorios acceded to this position in May 1988, while Abune Mathias acceded on 28 February 2013. Currently, both men are serving as Co-Patriarchs, following an agreement made on 27 July 2018.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is part of the Oriental Orthodox communion, and it was granted autocephaly by Cyril VI, Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, in 1959.
Bishops of [Axum]
- Abune Selama I Kesatay Birhan
- Minas or Elyas
- Abreham
- Petros
- Abba Afse
- Qozmos
- Euprepius
Metropolitan Archbishops of Axum and of All Ethiopia
- Qerellos
- Yohannes
- Yaqob I
- Salama Za-'Azeb
- Bartalomewos
- Peter, opposed by Minas and Fiqtor
- Daniel
- Fiqtor
- 'Abdun, claimant
- Sawiros
- Giyorgis I
- Mikael I
- Yaqob II
- Gabra Krestos
- Atnatewos
- Mikael II, opposed by Hirun
- Yeshaq
- Giyorgis II
- Saint Tekle Haymanot, according to tradition
- Yohannes
- Yaqob
- Salama II
- Bartalomewos
- Mikael and Gabriel
- Yeshaq
- Marqos
- João Bermudes, self-proclaimed Ethiopian Orthodox Abuna, and Catholic Patriarch of Ethiopia and Alexandria
- Endyras
- Andrés de Oviedo, Catholic bishop
- Marqos
- Krestodolos I
- Petros , killed in battle
- Simon, died 1624
- Afonso Mendes, Catholic Patriarch, supported by Susenyos I and deposed by Fasilides
- Rezek
- Marqos , deposed with Krestodolos
- Krestodolos II, deposed with Marqos
- Sinoda
- Marqos
- Abba Mikael
- Marqos X
- Krestodolos III
- Yohannes XIV
- Yosab III
- Makarios
- Kyrillos III
- Salama III
- Atnatewos II, died of wounds received at the Battle of Gura
- Petros VII, died 1918
- Mattheos X
- Qerellos IV, deposed following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War
- Abraham
- Yohannes XV
- Basilios
Patriarchs and Catholicoi of All Ethiopia
| No. | Abuna Personal name | Portrait | Reign | Notes |
| 1 | Basilios Gebre Giyorgis Wolde Tsadik | 1959–1970 | Reigned during the 1960 Ethiopian coup attempt and the 1965 Conference of Addis Ababa | |
| 2 | Theophilos Meliktu Jenbere | 1971–1976 | Deposed by the Derg and executed by strangling in 1979 | |
| 3 | Takla Haymanot Melaku Wolde Mikael | 1976–1988 | ||
| 4 | Merkorios Ze-Libanos Fanta | 1988–present | Deposed by the EPRDF, which claimed that he abdicated; In exile from 1991 to 2018 | |
| 5 | Paulos Gebremedhin Woldeyohannes | 1992–2012 | Reign disputed by followers of Abune Merkorios | |
| 6 | Mathias Teklemariam Asrat | 2013–present | Reign disputed by followers of Abune Merkorios until 2018 |
In 1959, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria granted autocephaly to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and elevated the Archbishop to the Patriarchal dignity and was enthroned with the title of: Patriarch and Re'ese Liqane Papasat Echege of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The title of Ichege of the See of St. Tekle Haimanot of Debre Libanos was subsumed into the Patriarchate. The title of Ichege was revived and the title of Archbishop of Axum was added to the Patriarchal titles in 2005, as Axum was the seat of Ethiopia's first Bishop, and thus the oldest see in the church.