Editing Haile Selassie (section)

=== Funeral and veneration ===

The Soviet-backed [[People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia]], the Derg's successor, fell in 1991. In 1992, Selassie's bones were [[Excavation of Haile Selassie's remain|found]] under a concrete slab on the palace grounds.<ref name="imperialburial">[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D05E3DF1239F935A35752C1A9669C8B63&scp=2&sq=Haile+Selassie&st=nyt "An Imperial Burial for Haile Selassie, 25 Years After Death"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706031309/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/06/world/an-imperial-burial-for-haile-selassie-25-years-after-death.html |date=6 July 2024 }}, ''The New York Times'', 6 November 2000.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE3DF1F3FF932A35750C0A964958260&scp=4&sq=Haile+Selassie&st=nyt&sq=Haile+Selassie&st=nyt "Ethiopians Celebrate a Mass for Exhumed Haile Selassie"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706031304/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/01/world/ethiopians-celebrate-a-mass-for-exhumed-haile-selassie.html |date=6 July 2024 }}, ''The New York Times'', 1 March 1992.</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Parmelee|first=Jennifer|date=17 February 1992|title=Ethiopians Exhume Purported Remains of Emperor Amid Probe of Mengistu Regime|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/02/18/ethiopians-exhume-purported-remains-of-emperor-amid-probe-of-mengistu-regime/8d9332af-9d8c-4f85-a8e9-43cdca3f2e60/|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> Selassie's coffin rested in Bhata Church for nearly a decade, near his great-uncle [[Menelik II]]'s resting place.<ref name="lorch">Lorch, Donatella (31 December 1995). [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE3D71239F932A05751C1A963958260&scp=15&sq=Haile+Selassie&st=nyt "Ethiopia Deals With Legacy of Kings and Colonels"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706031305/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/31/world/ethiopia-deals-with-legacy-of-kings-and-colonels.html |date=6 July 2024 }}. ''The New York Times''.</ref> On 5 November 2000, the [[Holy Trinity Cathedral (Addis Ababa)|Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa]] gave him a funeral, but the government refused calls to declare the ceremony an official imperial funeral.<ref>{{Cite news|date=6 November 2000|title=Haile Selassie Laid to Rest in Ethiopia|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-06-mn-47912-story.html|url-access=subscription|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=19 February 2024|archive-date=19 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219053159/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-06-mn-47912-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This may have been due to the government's reluctance to endorse or give even subtle political recognition to Royalists.<ref name="lorch" /><ref>{{Cite news|last=Guardia|first=Anton La|date=13 June 2000|title=Quandary over funeral plan for Haile Selassie|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/ethiopia/1342650/Quandary-over-funeral-plan-for-Haile-Selassie.html/1000|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=19 February 2024|archive-date=19 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219053159/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/ethiopia/1342650/Quandary-over-funeral-plan-for-Haile-Selassie.html/1000|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Astill|first=James|date=2 November 2000|title=Lion of Judah controversial to the last|work=The Guardian}}</ref>

==== Rastafari reaction ====

Prominent Rastafari figures such as [[Rita Marley]] participated in the funeral, but most Rastafari rejected the event and refused to accept that the bones were Selassie's remains. There is some debate within the [[Rastafari movement]] whether he actually died in 1975.<ref>Edmonds, Ennis Barrington (2002), ''Rastafari: From Outcasts to Culture Bearers''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-803060-6}}, p. 55.</ref>