The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church permits military service and has no pacifist doctrine. Ethiopia's national and Christian identity have been closely intertwined throughout history: the defeat of the Italian colonial invasion at the Battle of Adwa (1896), understood in Ethiopia partly as a divine victory for the Christian nation, and the resistance to the Fascist Italian occupation (1935–1941) are major events in which the church and military were aligned in defense of the nation and the faith.

The Ethiopian church venerates warrior saints including St. George (universally beloved in Ethiopia), Ste. Christodoulos, and the national saints who defended Orthodoxy against external threats. Emperor Haile Selassie I, who was a devout member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, led the nation's military and diplomatic resistance to invasion. While peace and justice are central Christian values, the tradition regards righteous defense as morally permissible and has historically framed Ethiopian national defense as a holy calling.