Abba Garima Monastery is a member of one of the few pre-colonial Christian Churches in Sub-Saharan Africa that gained what in 1959?
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (Amharic: ; transliterated Amharic: "Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan") is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Christian Churches. One of the few pre-colonial Christian Churches in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has a membership of between 45 and 50 million people, the majority of whom live in Ethiopia. It is a founding member of the World Council of Churches. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is in communion with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria having gained autocephaly in 1959.
International Association of the Congo The International Association of the Congo (French: "Association internationale du Congo" ), also known as the International Congo Society, was an association founded on 17 November 1879 by Leopold II of Belgium to further his interests in the Congo. It replaced the Belgian "Committee for the Study of the Upper Congo" (French: "Comité d'études du Haut-Congo" ), which was part of the International African Association front organisation created for the exploration of the Congo. The goals of the International Congo Society was to establish control of the Congo Basin and to exploit its economic resources. The Berlin Conference recognised the society as sovereign over the territories it controlled and in 1885 its structures were acquired by the Congo Free State.