Category: In The Press

LALIBELA 29 ታኅሣሥ 2017 / 7 January 2025 His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie, President of the Ethiopian Crown Council (shown at right), is in Lalibela, Ethiopia, celebrating the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord today. His Highness wishes all Orthodox and Eastern Rite Christians a blessed Christmas.

The famous rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, recognized as World Heritage Sites, are among Ethiopia’s most treasured pilgrimage sites. Traditionally dated to the reign of the great medieval emperor Gebre Meskel Lalibela, they are a symbolic representation of Jerusalem, and commemorate Ethiopia’s age-old ties to the Holy Land.

Prince Ermias is in Ethiopia in January for a series of important events, including the formal reopening of Menbere Tsebaot Cathedral, more commonly known as Holy Trinity Cathedral, in Addis Ababa on January 14. On January 5, His Highness attended a celebration (shown below) in honor of those who contributed to the renovation of Trinity Cathedral. Prince Ermias spearheaded a fundraising campaign in 2023 and 2024 resulting in a major contribution to that renovation.

His Highness thanks all friends of the Ethiopian Crown Council for their support of this initiative.

On November 11, 2024, Lij Nebyat Aklilu Demessie, Public Relations Officer and Advisor to the Crown Council of Ethiopia, participated in an international prayer day for global peace on behalf of HIH Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile Selassie. The event was organized by the “Light Must Unite,” a global peace effort founded by entrepreneur and visionary philanthropist Michael King Jr. and public relations, special events, branding and marketing guru Cygalle Dias, alongside the Light Must Unite Initiative co-founders Makonnen Hanna and Barbara Blake-Hannah of Jamaica. The panel was co-moderated by fashion icon, Joseph DeAcetis as well as music producer and entrepreneur, Makonnen Hanna with closing remarks made by founders Michael King Jr. and Cygalle Dias.

The mission of the “Light Must Unite” is to unite communities worldwide in the fight against violence, to foster peace, and to encourage positive societal transformation. During the Crown Council of Ethiopia’s official state visit to Jamaica in 2022, both Makonnen and Barbara Blake-Hannah accompanied Prince Ermias, Princess Saba Kebede, and advisors to the Crown Council.

The international prayer day event commenced with video tributes from historical figures including the late Emperor Haile Selassie, President John F. Kennedy, and American hotelier and humanitarian Conrad Hilton. The event featured a distinguished panel of speakers from diverse fields such as business, the arts, and philanthropy, including Matthew W. Rockefeller, J. Bradley Hilton, Chaka Khan, Young Wylin, Marla Maples, Jimmy Levy, Khalilah Camacho Ali, Xana Romeo, Ana Carla Sinclair, Sheila Chamberlain and other notable figures. The discussions centered around the power of prayer, meditation, peace, and unity.

Prince Ermias, who was unable to attend in person, submitted a written speech that was delivered by Lij Nebyat. Prince Ermias’ speech opened with a powerful quote from Emperor Haile Selassie on the importance of peace and the ongoing effort required to achieve it. Prince Ermias emphasized the universal need for peace and collective security, particularly in light of the global challenges facing humanity.

As a panelist in his own right, Lij Nebyat also spoke about the work of Selassie Stand Up, Inc., an organization he founded to promote the legacy of Emperor Haile Selassie. He highlighted the organization’s advocacy for the creation of a statue of the Emperor in the African Union Headquarters as a constant reminder of the Emperor’s commitment to peace, unity, and collective security. Lij Nebyat was also successful in getting approval from the Government of Jamaica to build a statue of HIM Emperor Haile Selassie during the Crown Council of Ethiopia’s official State Visit to Jamaica in 2022.

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Please see HIH Prince Ermias’ written speech below:

Greetings Distinguished Guests, Conference Participants, Ladies & Gentlemen:

In the words of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie: “Peace is a day-to-day problem; it is the product of a multitude of events and judgments. Peace is not an ‘is,’ it is a ‘becoming.’” This means that achieving peace is an ongoing process that requires constant effort and attention to detail, rather than a single moment or state that can be simply attained and then easily sustained; it’s about actively working towards peace every day, making choices that contribute to it, and recognizing that peace is always evolving and needs to be continuously cultivated.

Peace requires a just cause, dedication, determination, commitment and resolve. It is a product of a multitude of events and judgments because peace is impacted by each and every one of us as well as the decisions we make individually and collectively. Peace is a process and a journey that starts within each and every one of us. Peace is dependent on how we chose to act and also interact with others.

During such troubling times, the universal necessity of peace cannot be overemphasized. We, therefore, must continue to strive in our efforts to achieve the ideals of humanity, global peace, collective security and unity.

As President, and on behalf of the Crown Council of Ethiopia, We thank the organizers of the Light Must Unite for this opportunity, international day of prayer for peace and the global call for unity. We implore each and every person to do his or her part in prayer, meditation and action to achieve ideals of humanity, global peace and unity.

Thank you so very much for this opportunity and organizing this very important meeting. Together, in prayer, unity and collective action we can achieve.

May God Bless you all!

The Annual Victory of Adwa Dinner for 2024 was held 23 March 2024 in Washington, DC.

Proceeds from the sale of photographs on this website – which also includes photos from the 2019-2023 Victory of Adwa Dinners – will go to support The Crown Council of Ethiopia.

Last month, representatives of the Ethiopian Crown Council traveled to Panama for an official visit hosted by the Panamanian government. HIH Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie, President of the Crown Council, led the delegation, which included his wife HIH Princess Saba Kebede and advisors to the Crown Council representing the Moa Anbessa Institute. The trip, organized by the Tourism Authority of Panama, included meetings and events with Panama’s ministries of Foreign Affairs, Culture, and Tourism. These activities were part of a larger event on the theme of reunion between Africa and the African diaspora. Other guests included Her Majesty Queen Diambi of Congo’s Bakwa Luntu people; His Royal Highness Doctor Rilwan Sulaiman, Emir of Bauchi (Nigeria); and His Royal Highness Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the ooni of Ife (Nigeria).

On May 19, Prince Ermias gave a speech on the subject of colonialism and “The Unfinished Road to Freedom.” He described Ethiopia’s unique role in African history as the continent’s sole unconquered country and stressed the role that the Ethiopian monarchy played in unifying Ethiopia in the face of European aggression. He suggested that the final step in the liberation process was to “decolonize our minds.” He invited the audience to consider Africa’s wars over ethnicity, ideology, and natural resources, and asked “whether these are really our own values, or whether they have been imposed on us from the outside.” In his concluding remarks, he argued that “Africa’s traditional monarchies are a symbol of Africa’s freedom,” and called upon all Africans to “build a new generation of Africans proud of our traditions.”

On May 24, Prince Ermias joined the leadership of the Rastafarian community of Panama at an event hosted with the Ministry of Culture and the National Secretariat for the Development of Afro-Panamanians. Leading Rasta intellectuals presented on the topic of Rastafarians as a nation without a state. Prince Ermias gave a speech exploring the connections between the Rasta movement, Ethiopia’s church, and Ethiopia’s crown. He recorded the long history of support the African diaspora and the Rasta movement have given the Ethiopian crown, particularly during World War II and the years since the revolution of 1974.

In this speech, Prince Ermias invited the Rasta community to build closer ties to Ethiopia and to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. “The church gives me a goal and a guide,” he said in his concluding remarks, “the inspiration we can find in the humility, love, and forgiveness of Jesus and his ultimate sacrifice. The crown gives me a burden to carry, the obligation I owe to my cousins, my uncle, my grandfather, and to all of our ancestors, the duty I have to preserve the memory of my family and its role in the history of my culture and my people. So I have both a burden and a guide. The Rastas who have grown ever closer to our church and the Rastas who stand loyal to our crown have carried the same burden with me, following the same guide.”

Coverage of the Crown Council trip to Panama in the press and in social media has been extensive, and Prince Ermias’s speech to the Rasta community received live televised coverage. Ethiopian news site Borkena published a statement about the trip by the Moa Anbessa Institute on June 7. That statement read, in part:

It is our belief that the process of healing and reconciliation for the purposes of promoting and fostering peace and unity on the basis of a common history and identity starts with education, understanding and an open heart to learn and to forgive. Thus, it is only when we understand, forgive past injustices and reconcile with our history that we can begin to chart a path forward built on mutual trust, confidence and partnership beneficial to all people including the environment in which we live.

The Crown Council is grateful to support from the Moa Anbessa Institute and for the presence of its representatives on this trip. The Moa Anbessa statement makes an important point. Education and understanding are crucial for peace and reconciliation, both in Ethiopia specifically and Africa more generally. The Crown Council invites all Ethiopians to join in this journey, and invites everyone to remember the crucial role that Africa’s traditional institutions have to play in building bridges of peace and reconciliation, and in building Africa’s future.