Thousands in Ethiopia's capital city defied a downpour to celebrate Meskel ... Spatari / AFP During the celebration Abune Mathias, the patriarch of Ethiopia's Orthodox Church, called on Ethiopians ...

Ethiopians are celebrating the annual Meskel festival, the first big festival of the Ethiopian religious year. According to Ethiopian Orthodox Christian tradition, the national holiday marks the ...

In celebrations of Meskel — a word in the local Amharic language for "cross" — bonfires are burned across the country. In Meskel square Thursday, the patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox ...