Addis Ababa February 27, 2021 (FBC) Ethiopian Orthodox Church (EOC) Archdiocese of New York and the vicinity, Aba Petros, revealed today that the imposter Amnesty International witness Michael Berhe is not even follower of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
Aba Petros who came to Ethiopia on a working visit and visited Mekelle, the regional capital of Tigray, a fortnight ago told ENA that Michael Berhe has no presence in the diocese as he is not a follower of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
It is to be recalled that the imposter Michael Berhe posed as Priest Woldemariam in a video where he alleged to be an eyewitness of the perpetrated massacre at Axum Saint Mary of Zion. Amnesty International incorporated the testament of the Boston resident in its recent report.
The Archdiocese said, “First of all he is not a priest. I heard that he was ordained a deacon in the Catholic Church. But, he is not even working in that capacity. He works in a hospital in Boston, USA, as an interpreter.”
Aba Petros added that he “was shocked to hear that this man was in Axum. As I told you, the man is an interpreter at a hospital in Boston. If this person is lying like this, then he certainly harms fathers and mothers in the hospital where he works, especially those who do not speak the English language and do not know the culture.”
According to the Archdiocese, lying harmful not only others but also oneself. This man will not benefit the people of Axum because of this lie and a lie in fact does not benefit anyone.
“This guy was not in Axum. He is neither a priest nor servant of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Hence, if this man has been engaged in misinforming people with such magnitude by telling white lies, we all have to be seriously cautious as the worst of such kind of things could happen. From this incident one can conclude that 90 or 80 percent of the information that have been disseminated in relation to the region is fake.”
He further elaborated that such a lie told by this person will not benefit the residents of Axum rather than harming them.
Learning from the past and doing good deeds that benefit the people and not burying the truth would help the people and the country, Aba Petros noted.
Commenting on the situation in Ethiopia, he said, “I think politics in Ethiopia is now off the track. In the West discourses are between truth not between truth and falsehood. Two persons with their own truth might debate to win the interest of the people by arguing that their respective truth, policies or ideas would make the people beneficial. Then the public will judge to choose the best. However, if falsehood gets a chance to be chosen, it would not help you but drag you to destruction.”
The Archdiocese believes that the media could play a proactive role by disseminating factual information about incidents to the public before they are distorted by such people.