The current working paper is part of project dldl/ድልድል working paper series that aims to disseminate key project findings to a wider audience, in an effort to improve understanding among Ethiopian Orthodox Church clergy and theologians, state agents, and non-governmental domestic violence stakeholders about the complex role of religious beliefs and experience in the married lives of the laity, about the clergy’s approaches to mediation in marital conflict, and how theology and pastoral interventions may be appropriately engaged in alleviating the problem. This working paper is dedicated to St John Chrysostom’s commentaries regarding man-woman relations in marriage and the conjugal relationship as they emerge from seven homilies. An attempt is made to provide a reading of these homilies through the Orthodox phronema understood here as the experience-based historical conscience of the Church. The aim is to bring the works of the Church Fathers closer to the conditions of the Orthodox faithful and improve their awareness of the Orthodox faith. It is our belief that Chrysostom’s commentaries in particular can become an important resource for the alleviation of pernicious attitudes regarding women and marriage associated with tradition-oriented Orthodox communities.

Read the Working Paper in Amharic

Read Working Paper 3: Discourses and Practices of Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahәdo Clergy Regarding Faith, Marriage and Spousal Abuse: The Case of Aksum in Tigray Region (prior the war)