ADDIS ABABA Ethiopia
Students at Ethiopia’s top religious college are protesting the close ties between the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the government, alleged restrictions on their speech and Beyonce’s recent meeting with their patriarch.
The 26-year-old singer met with the Ethiopian patriarch, Abune Paulos, before performing in skimpy sequined outfits as part of celebrations of the country’s millennium, which fell in September, according to the church’s calendar.
Daniel Techale, a 28-year-old Theological College of the Holy Trinity alumnus who lives at the college, said about 30 of his friends had been hospitalized after a hunger strike they began Sunday.
He said students were upset by the closeness of the church to the ruling party and restrictions on their speech, but were also upset over the Beyonce-Paulos meeting.
“She provoked the whole situation,” he said, accusing the patriarch of “practically a nonreligious act. It’s unacceptable, or inappropriate, to say the least.”
Authorities were trying to persuade the students to end their hunger strike, he said.
