During his office, much urban property that had been taken from the church was returned, most notably the return of the campus and the library of Holy Trinity Theological College, and the College was reopened. Abuna Paulos built a new Patriarchal office and residence complex at the site of the old one, and reformed the bureaucracy of the Patriarchate. He travelled widely, strengthening the ties of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church with other sister churches. He reluctantly acquiesced to the breaking away of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church when that country declared independence. Abune Paulos also took the initiative to the series of peace meetings between all Ethiopian and Eritrean religious leaders in 1998, 1999 and 2000 in an effort to bring peace between the two countries in response to a bitterly fought border war. Patriarch Abune Paulos and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church were extensively involved in the support of war-displaced and drought-hit Ethiopians, making the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church one of the major relief organizations in the country.