A Statement by His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle-Selassie Haile-Selassie,
President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia.
ጥር 23, 2015 / January 31, 2023
We have, these past weeks, been sadly reflecting on the passing, in Athens on January 10, 2023, of His Majesty King Constantine II of the Hellenes. He was a significant figure in the pantheon of Orthodox Christian monarchs, during his great service as King and afterwards, and always a true friend of his fellow Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia. Indeed, he was a friend to all Ethiopians.
There was, and is, a great warmth between Ethiopia and Greece, and not merely because of the links between our Orthodox Churches, but also because of the wonderful and loyal population of Greek Ethiopians. To them, and to the people of Greece in their homeland and around the world, we extend our profound sorrow and share in your loss.
To the Greek Orthodox Church, we extend our humble appreciation for the role the Church and Clergy played in the funeral and memorial services for His Majesty. They restored a sense of Greek nobility and dignity reminiscent of the days in which His Majesty and his forebears reigned.
The Ethiopian Crown was represented at the funeral solemnities by our Representative, Omiros Fotiadis, KCSE, who had also been loyal to His Majesty King Constantine for many years. And he conveyed our letter of sadness to Her Majesty Queen Anne-Marie, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Pavlos, and the Greek Royal Family.
We need, at this time of reflection, to build on the symbolism of His Majesty King Constantine to establish a stronger and more organised network of Orthodox Christian Royal and Imperial Houses to preserve the values of our societies, and to continue to serve as the bridge between Christendom and our national brethren of other Solomonic faiths. We, in Ethiopia, need to take inspiration from this period of reflection not only to reach out to our Orthodox brothers and sisters around the world, but also to our own Christians of different denominations and to the Muslim Ethiopians with whom our faith has given us an unshakeable bond.
His Majesty King Constantine by his virtue set an example of healing and unity and will not be forgotten.
