[St. Pachomius Library]

Archbishop Isaac Mandefro


Ge'ez YESEHAQ
XX/XXI Centuries
Abba Laike Mandefro, later called Abuna Yesehaq, was head of the Ethiopian Orthodox missionary outreach in Jamaica established by Emperor Haile Selassie I in response to the Ras Tafari movement. A monk of Debra Libanos, he arrived in the West Indies from Africa in 1970 and initiated an extraordinary period of evangelisation and conversion. (Among those whom he baptised was the reggae star Bob Marley). He also undertook missionary journeys throughout the Western world and in 1979 was made Primate of the Church of Ethiopia in the Western Hemisphere. After the fall of the Communist regime he found himself at odds with the Patriarch of Addis Ababa, with whom I understand he eventually broke communion.

Norman Hugh Redington

Under construction --- far from complete! Read with caution.



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