The sound of prayer, the rhythm of ancient chants, and the quiet symbolism of ritual marked a sacred time for members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Trinidad and Tobago, as they observed Holy Week with ceremonies steeped in centuries-old tradition.
At the Holy Trinity Parish in Beetham Gardens, congregants gathered on April 5 to celebrate Hosannah—Palm Sunday—commemorating the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. Days later, on April 9, the solemn Washing of Feet and Hands ceremony unfolded at the Medhane Alem Parish in Arouca, reenacting Christ’s act of humility and service to His disciples.
While many Christian denominations in Trinidad and Tobago follow the Gregorian calendar, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church adheres to the ancient Ethiopian calendar, a system comprising 13 months and rooted in early biblical timekeeping. This distinction means that major observances such as Palm Sunday and Easter often fall later than in Western traditions, reflecting a continuity of practices preserved over centuries.
For parishioners, these observances are not merely ceremonial—they are an immersion into one of the oldest uninterrupted Christian traditions in the world.
Christianity in Ethiopia traces its origins to as early as 34 AD, following the biblical account of the Ethiopian eunuch’s baptism by the Apostle Philip. By 332 AD, it had become the official religion of the Ethiopian kingdom, making the nation one of the earliest Christian civilisations. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, part of the Oriental Orthodox family, continues to uphold doctrines and liturgical practices passed down through generations, grounded in both Holy Scripture and Sacred Tradition.
Central to its theology is the mystery of the Holy Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—understood as One in Three and Three in One, co-equal and co-eternal. This belief forms the foundation of the Church’s worship and spiritual life, expressed through rich liturgy, fasting, prayer, and symbolic acts such as the Holy Week rituals observed locally.
The presence of this ancient faith in Trinidad and Tobago is itself a remarkable story of vision and perseverance.
In 1952, a 26-year-old Trinidadian, Cecil Garnet Springer, travelled to Ethiopia driven by a desire to establish the Church in the Caribbean and to reconnect descendants of enslaved Africans with a historic expression of Christianity. His journey led him to meet Patriarch Abuna Basilios and Emperor Haile Selassie I, to whom he presented this aspiration.
The response was swift and significant. In December 1952, two representatives—Memher GebreYesus Meshesha and Ato Abera Jembere—were sent to Trinidad. Within months, baptisms began, and by June 1953, the first group of believers had formally entered the Church, laying the groundwork for its growth in the region.
That foundation was further strengthened in 1972 with the arrival of Archbishop Abuna Thaddaeus, whose leadership helped expand the Church’s reach beyond Trinidad and Tobago into the wider Caribbean and Latin America, while preserving its sacred traditions.
Today, more than seven decades since its establishment, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church continues to thrive across the country. With nine parishes spanning Arouca, Beetham, San Fernando, Sangre Grande, Mayaro, Point Fortin, Claxton Bay, Siparia, and Scarborough in Tobago, it stands as a living testament to a faith that bridges continents and centuries.
For those who gathered in Beetham Gardens and Arouca this Holy Week, the rituals were not only acts of devotion but affirmations of identity—linking a modern Caribbean congregation to an ancient spiritual lineage that has endured, unbroken, for nearly two millennia.
