Historically the Abun of the Ethiopian Church was appointed by the Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa, who had diocesan authority over Ethiopia and the rest of Africa, at the request of the Emperor and, in historic times, after paying a substantial fee to the Muslim government for the privilege.

[1] The candidate frequently lacked knowledge of the native language and even the local customs of the Ethiopian church.

His authority eventually was filled in ecclesiastical matters by the Ichege or Abbot of the Monastery of Debre Libanos in Shewa, the sole possessor of this particular title in Ethiopia.

After many centuries, Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, the last reigning Oriental Christian monarch in the world, reached an agreement with the Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria, Egypt, on 13 July 1948.

This title is not used in self-reference, rather the priest would refer to himself as al-Ab (الأب al-ʾAb, literally 'the father').