Kembesan Orthodox Nazarist Church
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| Kembesan Orthodox Nazarist Church | |
|---|---|
| የከምበሳን ኦርቶዶክስ ናዝራዊ ቤተ አሚታይያኒ | |
| Classification | Sarpetic |
| Orientation | Miaphysitism |
| Scripture | Old and New Treasuries |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Governance | Episcopal triumviate |
| Archbishop of Bet Kebu | Jon Beriberē |
| Archbishop of Me'lewa | Yonatan Ch'ewi |
| Archbishop of Zema | Mīka'ēl Komit'at'ē |
| Region | Kembesa, East Scipia |
| Language | She'dje |
| Liturgy | Coptic |
| Headquarters | Yek’idisiti Šilasē Cathedral Azwa, Degama, Kembesa |
| Founder | Saint Kaleb Yohoni |
| Origin | c. 350 CE K'idanibesa, present-day Degama |
| Members | 26.3 million |
| Clergy |
|
| Hospitals | 22 |
| Primary schools | 678 |
| Secondary schools | 339 |
The Kembesan Orthodox Nazarist Church (Kembesan: Ye'kemibesani Oritodokisi Nazirawī Bēte Āmītayiyanī) is a Nazarist denomination and state religion in Kembesa. While officially bound within the borders of Kembesa, the Church is in communion with other Orthodox and Coptic denominations, including the Perateian Ecumenical Church. The Church also claims communion with the Holy See in Fabria, though this is disputed by the latter.
Within Kembesa, the Orthodox Nazarist Church exerts a great deal of authority, both officially and unofficially. According to tradition and codified in the 1948 Constitution, the Kembesan Orthodox Nazarist Church is the state religion of Kembesa and of all Kembesans. Local parishes may also directly influence the customary laws of their area, specifically moral and sumptuary laws. The Church also exerts unofficial influence in the governance of the state as one of the three archbishops is customarily appointed to an executive position in the monarch's cabinet.
Unlike most Nazarist denominations which operate with a single primate at the head, the three archbishops of Bet Kebur, Me'lewa, and Zema collectively govern the Church as a triumvirate. In practice, whichever archbishop is customarily appointed by the monarch benefits from informal deference within the Church hierarchy.
History
The Kembesan Orthodox Nazarist Church has a long institutional history, dating over a millennium and a half from its founding. Much of the Church's history is intertwined with the history of the state, though the power of the Church has fluctuated relative to that of the monarch through time. The Church has also had a major impact in determining Kembesa's relations with its largely heathen neighbours as well as other Nazarist denominations.
Origins
The Church was founded in the mid-4th century CE by Saint Kaleb Yohoni, who ruled what was then known as K'idanibesa as Kaleb I, the country's first Nazarist monarch. Much of Saint Kaleb's reign was preoccupied with the unification of Kembesa, conquering the kingdoms of Yebwi and M'bala from his base in present-day Degama before further expanding into the arid north. Saint Kaleb nominally led the early Church himself, appointing bishops and priests in newly conquered regions and overseeing the forcible conversion of many.
Saint Kaleb's successor, Kaleb II, oversaw the appointment of the first archbishops in the country, one for each of the three constituent regions, seated in Bet Kebur, Me'lewa, and Zema. The precise mechanism of the appointment of the archbishops is uncertain. It is possible that the administrative body of the Church proposed the three candidates, that each of the three candidates pursued their own elevation by political means, or that their appointments were ordained as the final commandments of Saint Kaleb. Subsequent appointments have been made through the Church's internal hierarchy, with some interventions on behalf of the monarch.
Following the reigns of the first Nazarist monarchs, the Church matured rapidly as an institution. For many, the Church was the major interface between noble and common life.