Greetings in that Divine and Most Precious Name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
Anyways, His Imperial Majesty was either speaking heresy or was using a very poor choice of words in proclaiming the Church to be divided. The Church can never be divided. People can separate themselves from the Church, and the Church can formally recognize that they have done so, but the Church is never divided. By saying it is, you are either claiming that the Body of Christ has been cut in two, or you are choosing your words without much care, because the Protestants will latch onto those words and take it as evidence that the Orthodox see themselves as just one more denomination.
You are of course free to your opinions, and I of course have already expressed my own apprehensions about this organization, however (A) there seems be to be no reason to make it personal about HIM Haile Selassie I and further make accusations of heresy against the Defender of the Faith and (B) I am duty bound to respect the discipline of my jurisdiction, and if His Holiness Abune Paulos actively works with the WCC, as has the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church for some decades now, I must respect and defend such as a matter of faith.
Further, Gebre Menfes Kidus is the OP, and I am equally obliged to let that brother know where our jurisdiction stands on this matter as he shares such and further asked the question specifically.
It seems we need to look at this speech again folks read it a bit wrong:
Mr. Chairman, Eminences and Distinguished Members of the Central Committee,
It is with feelings of great spiritual and personal happiness that We witness the convening of this meeting of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches in Our capital city.
This is particularly so as it is more timely than ever for followers of Christ to gather to deliberate on current vital issues affecting international peace and justice.
Man's egoistic motives and his selfish desire to pursue exclusively his own individual interests, thus failing in his God-given task of following the goal of the unity of all, is witness to the feebleness of human nature, and constitutes the major obstacle to the unity of all Christians towards which we strive.
How long will we, who are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, who are taught by the same Holy Bible, continue to remain divided amongst ourselves?
Realizing that the time has come for the Church of Christ, divided for many centuries up till now, to come together in unity and work together, it is imperative for all of us to strive together, in accordance with the words of the Apostle, Ephesians, Chapter 4, verses 5 and 6 to clear the way and open it up for the realization of unity. Each church and all churches have the obligation, derived from their covenant with God, to proclaim the Gospel, to make disciples of all nations and thus to make the faith grow and bear fruit.
We Christians living by the faith of Christ, the Head and Pillar on whom the Church is founded, cannot escape the responsibility to work for the peace of the world, and to ensure equality for all human beings created by God, lest we fail in our duty by being mere passive witnesses to the gruesome spectacle of human beings, created in the image of God, being deprived by virtue of their color or their poverty, of the benefits and blessings that are the birthright of every man and all men, and suffering in agony, cast forth from the pale of full human existence.
Man does not live by bread alone. The spiritual life does not deny, however, the need for bread. Therefore, the spiritual life of humanity must necessarily include the common aspiration of all of us for a better standard of living and for greater improvement in the quality of human existence.
May God our Creator, the Helper and guiding Light of us all, grant you His wisdom that your meeting may bear fruit for His glory. We sincerely wish you all success and pray that God may lead you to that unity which Christians all over the world eagerly await.
If folks can't see that the Church is divided, y'all are simply lying to yourselves. The Body of Christ is eternally unified, but folks continue to assert their imaginary divisions, and this is what HIM is addressing, that indeed the Church is of course united as One Body,
so perhaps its time we all act like it instead of continually splintering into Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Byzantine-Catholic, Melkite Catholic, Lutheran, etc etc..
HIM couldn't have made up such a silly story if HIM tried, let alone the reality that HIM was just pointing out history. Further, lets focus on the highlight of that speech, " lest we fail in our duty by being mere passive witnesses to the gruesome spectacle of human beings." Unity is strength.
Let us pray for such as HIM ended HIM speech saying "We sincerely with you all the success and pray that God may lead you to that unity.."
stay blessed,
habte selassie