No. Portrait Abuna (Birth–Death) Reign Notes 1 Basilios (1891–1970) 1959–1970 Reigned during the 1960 Ethiopian coup d'état attempt and the 1965 Conference of Addis Ababa Born in Mada Mikael as Gebre Giyorgis Wolde Tsadik 2 Theophilos (1910–1979) 1971–1976 Deposed by the Derg[5] and executed by strangling in 1979[6] Born in Debre Elias as Meliktu Jenbere 3 Takla Haymanot (1918–1988) 1976–1988 Born in Begemder as Melaku Wolde Mikael 4 Merkorios (born 1938) 1988–present Deposed by the EPRDF, which claimed that he abdicated; Headed the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in exile [fr] from 1991 to 2018[7] Born in Begemder as Ze-Libanos Fanta 5 Paulos (1936–2012) 1992–2012 Reign disputed by followers of Abune Merkorios Born in Adwa as Gebremedhin Woldeyohannes 6 Mathias (born 1941) [8] 2013–present Reign disputed by followers of Abune Merkorios until 2018[5][7] Born in Agame as Teklemariam Asrat