Honorific title of Orthodox Tewahedo Church bishops
This article is about religious title. For the surname, see
Abouna. For the river, see
Abuna River.
Abuna (or Abune, which is the status constructus form used when a name follows: Ge'ez አቡነ abuna/abune, 'our father'; Amharic and Tigrinya) is the honorific title used for any bishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church as well as of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. It was historically used solely for the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Ethiopia during the more than 1000 years when the Coptic Patriarchate of Alexandria appointed only one bishop at a time to serve its Ethiopian flock. When referred to without a name following, it is Abun, and if a name follows, it becomes Abuna (e.g., Abuna Paulos).