Eastern Catholic church
The
Ethiopian Catholic Church
[a]
or
Ethiopian Eastern Catholic Church
is a
sui iuris
(autonomous)
Eastern Catholic church
that is based in
Ethiopia
. As a
particular church
of the
Catholic Church
, it is in
full communion
with the
Holy See
. Established in 1930, the church is organised under a
metropolitan bishop
who exercises oversight of a number
suffragan dioceses
. In its liturgical services, it uses the
Alexandrian Rite
in the
Ge'ez language
(a local
liturgical language
).
It holds to the Christological doctrines defined at the
Council of Chalcedon
and accepts the universal jurisdiction of the
pope
. These points distinguish it from the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
, an
Oriental Orthodox Church
which comprises most
Christians
in the country.
History
[
edit
]
The
Portuguese
voyages of discovery
opened the way for direct contacts between the
Catholic Church
and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. In the 15th century, Catholic missionaries arrived in
Ethiopia
. On 28 August 1439,
Pope Eugene IV
sent a message of unity with the Catholic Church to
Ethiopian Emperor
Constantine I
,
[5]
but this effort was unsuccessful.
[6]
With Islamic attacks up to 1531 threatening Christian Ethiopia, an appeal from the Emperor to the Portuguese brought support to defeat the
Adal Sultanate
in the
Ethiopian?Adal War
.
Jesuit
missionaries came with the Portuguese to Ethiopia. These missionaries focused their conversion activities on the country's governing class, including the Emperor, to have the Ethiopian Orthodox Church unite with the Catholic Church. The Emperor
Susenyos
was converted primarily by Father
Pedro Paez
. In 1622, Susenyos made Catholicism the state religion. The next year,
Pope Gregory XV
named
Afonso Mendes
, a Portuguese Jesuit, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Church. A formal union in 1626 was declared when Patriarch Mendes came to the country. With Mendes trying to
Latinize
the Ethiopian church, Susenyos used force to impose the Latinization. Public backlash resulted. In 1632, Susenyos died. His successor
Fasilides
in 1636 removed Mendes from the country, ended the union with
Rome
and removed or killed the remaining missionaries. For the next 200 years, Ethiopia was closed to Catholic Missions.
[6]
In 1839, Italian
Lazarist
and
Capuchins
missionaries arrived, albeit within certain limitations imposed on them due to strong public opposition. That same year,
Justin de Jacobis
was appointed first
Prefect Apostolic
of
Abyssinia
and entrusted with the foundation of Catholic missions in that country. After laboring with great success in Abyssinia for eight years, he was appointed
titular Bishop
of
Nilopolis
in 1847, and shortly afterwards
Vicar Apostolic of Abyssinia
, but he refused the
episcopal
dignity until it was finally forced upon him in 1849.
[7]
In 1919, the Pontifical Ethiopian College was founded within the Vatican walls by
Pope Benedict XV
with St. Stephen's Church, behind
St. Peter's Basilica
, as the designated church for the College.
[1]
The
Latin Church
had become established in the south of Ethiopia in areas that had not been
Christian
and that were incorporated into the modern country only at the end of the 19th century. The
Italian occupation of Ethiopia
in 1936 gave rise to an increase in the number of Latin-Church jurisdictions, but the expulsion of foreign missionaries at the end of the
Second World War
meant that the Ethiopic Rite clergy had to take responsibility for areas thus denuded of Catholic clergy. Accordingly, in 1951, the Ethiopic Rite Apostolic
Exarchate
of
Addis Ababa
was established, and the ordinariate for Eritrea was elevated to the rank of exarchate. Ten years later, on 20 February 1961, an Ethiopic ecclesiastical province was established, with Addis Ababa as the
Metropolitan See
[2]
and
Asmara
(in Eritrea) and
Adigrat
(in Ethiopia) as suffragan eparchies.
[6]
Metropolitan Archbishop of Addis Abeba
Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel
In 1995, two new eparchies,
Barentu
and
Keren
, were established in Eritrea,
[4]
and the Latin-Church apostolic vicariate was abolished. Eritrea thus became the only country where all Catholics, whatever Church of their canonical ascription, belong to an
Eastern Catholic
jurisdiction.
[1]
In 2003, one more eparchy was created in
Endibir
in the
Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region
of Ethiopia.
[2]
In January 2015
Pope Francis
established the
Eritrean Catholic Church
as a
sui iuris
Eastern Catholic Church
, thus granting it autonomy from the Ethiopian Catholic Church.
[8]
There are also
Latin Church
jurisdictions in the south of Ethiopia, none of them raised to the rank of
diocese
. Eight are
apostolic vicariates
and one is an
apostolic prefecture
.
Eparchies
[
edit
]
There are four
eparchies
(
bishoprics
) in the country:
[9]
A map of Ethiopian Catholic jurisdictions
Differences between the Catholic and Orthodox Ethiopian churches
[
edit
]
Interior of the Medhani Alem Catholic Church in Adigrat
Doctrinal distinctions between the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and the Catholic Ethiopian Churches include recognition of the fifth-century
Council of Chalcedon
. The order of the diaconate is reserved for adult men in the Catholic Church, but boys are commonly ordained as deacons in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Ethiopian Catholic clergy also tend to dress in the Roman cassock and collar, distinct from the Ethiopian Orthodox custom.
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Amharic
:
?????? ???? ?? ??????
;
Latin
:
Ecclesia Catholica Aethiopica
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Roberson, Ronald G.
"The Ethiopian Catholic Church"
.
Eastern Catholic Churches
. Catholic Near East Welfare Association. p. 2
. Retrieved
24 January
2012
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Metropolitan Archdiocese of Addis Abeba"
.
GCatholic.org
. Retrieved
24 January
2012
.
- ^
"The Eastern Catholic Churches 2017"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 2018-10-24
. Retrieved
2019-06-19
.
- ^
a
b
Roberson, Ronald G.
"The Eastern Catholic Churches 2010"
(PDF)
.
Eastern Catholic Churches Statistics
. Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 23 September 2015
. Retrieved
28 December
2011
.
- ^
Curtin, D. P. (January 2007).
Laetentur Caeli: Bulls of Union with the Greeks, Armenians, Coptic, and Ethiopian Churches
.
ISBN
9798869171504
.
- ^
a
b
c
Roberson, Ronald G.
"The Ethiopian Catholic Church"
.
Eastern Catholic Churches
. Catholic Near East Welfare Association. p. 1
. Retrieved
24 January
2012
.
- ^
Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913).
"Blessed Justin de Jacobis"
.
Catholic Encyclopedia
. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^
"Erezione della Chiesa Metropolitana sui iuris eritrea e nomina del primo Metropolita"
.
Holy See Press Office
. January 19, 2015
. Retrieved
January 19,
2015
.
- ^
"Ethiopian Catholic Church Current Dioceses"
. Retrieved
12 October
2018
.
- ^
"Archeparchy of Addis Abeba (Ethiopian)"
. Retrieved
12 October
2018
.
- ^
"Eparchy of Adigrat (Ethiopian)"
. Retrieved
12 October
2018
.
- ^
"Eparchy of Bahir Dar - Dessie (Ethiopian)"
. Retrieved
12 October
2018
.
- ^
"Eparchy of Emdeber (Ethiopian)"
. Retrieved
12 October
2018
.
External links
[
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]