Eritrean Bishops have excommunicated their former Patriarch, Abune Antonios for heresy.
He has for a long time been a critic of the government and was deposed and put under house arrest 13 years ago.
But the move to expel him from the church is unprecedented.
Antonios’ followers accuse the government of interfering in the affairs of the Church.
Orthodox Christians constitute one of the main religious groups in Eritrea.