ዶ/ር አረጋዊ በርኸ ‹‹A Political History of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (1975-1991): Revolt, Ideology and Mobilisation in Ethiopia›› በሚል ለሦስተኛ ዲግሪ ማሟያ በሰራው ጥናት፤ ትሕነግ ኦርቶዶክስ ቤተክርስቲያንን ማዳከም የኢትዮጵያን የማዳከሚያ የትግል ስልት አድርጎ እንደተጠቀመበት ይነግረናል፡፡ እ.አ.አ 1979 ኢትዮጵያዊነትን ነቅሎ የትግራይ ብሔርተኝነትን የሚተክል ሥልጠና ለተመረጡ ከየአጥቢያው ለመጡ ካህናት በገብረኪዳን ደስታ አማካኝነት እንደተሰጠ ይተርክልናል::
“TPLF launched a series of conferences or ‘seminars’ for selected parish priests in 1979 to win them over. The underlying motive of the seminars was to isolate the church in Tigrai from the wider Ethiopian church in order to foster Tigraian nationalism along the lines of the TPLF’s strategic objective. Suppressed Tigraian nationalism was invoked to challenge the dominant Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The initial woreda seminars for priests were conducted by an eloquent TPLF fighter, Gebre-Kidan Desta, a graduate of the Theological College at Addis Ababa University.” (page 301)