Roman Catholicism in Ethiopia
Encyclopedia
The Catholic Church in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

 is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

 in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

.

The Ethiopian Catholic Church, the primary organization of Catholicism in the country, is especially close to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, whose doctrine and liturgical tradition she shares. While separated by their understanding of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome, the Ethiopian Catholic and Orthodox Churches have basically the same sacraments and liturgy.

Size and organization

In the 2007 census, nationwide 532,187 people were reported as professing Catholicism. There are eleven territorial jurisdictions including 1 metropolitan see, 2 episcopal sees and 8 Apostolic Vicariate
Apostolic vicariate
An apostolic vicariate is a form of territorial jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church established in missionary regions and countries that do not have a diocese. It is essentially provisional, though it may last for a century or more...

s:
  • Metropolitan Archeparchy of Addis Abeba
    • Eparchy of Adigrat
    • Eparchy of Emdeber

  • Apostolic Vicariate of Awasa
    Apostolic Vicariate of Awasa
    The Apostolic Vicariate of Awasa is a Roman Catholic apostolic Vicariate located in the city of Awasa in Ethiopia.-History:* March 25, 1937: Established as the Apostolic Prefecture of Neghelli from the Apostolic Vicariate of Galla and Apostolic Prefecture of Kaffa* October 15, 1969: Renamed as the...

  • Apostolic Vicariate of Harar
    Apostolic Vicariate of Harar
    The Apostolic Vicariate of Harar is a Roman Catholic apostolic vicariate located in the city of Harar in Ethiopia.- History :* May 4, 1846: Established as the Apostolic Vicariate of Galla from the Apostolic Prefecture of Abyssinia...

  • Apostolic Vicariate of Meki
    Apostolic Vicariate of Meki
    The Apostolic Vicariate of Meki is a Roman Catholic apostolic Vicariate located in the city of Meki in Ethiopia.-History:* March 6, 1980: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Meki from the Apostolic Vicariate of Harar...

  • Apostolic Vicariate of Nekemte
    Apostolic Vicariate of Nekemte
    The Apostolic Vicariate of Nekemte is a Roman Catholic apostolic Vicariate located in the city of Nekemte in Ethiopia.-History:* January 28, 1913: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Southern Kaffa from the Apostolic Vicariate of Galla...

  • Apostolic Vicariate of Soddo
  • Apostolic Vicariate of Hosanna
  • Apostolic Vicariate of Gambella
  • Apostolic Vicariate of Jimma–Bonga

History

Around the year 341 A.D., Saint Frumentius (Abune Salama Kesatie Berhan) was consecrated the first Bishop of Ethiopia by the great Saint Athanasius,Patriarch of Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

, who was in union with the Bishop of Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. Thus the Bishop of Alexandria was the bridge between the Bishop of Rome and the Bishop of Ethiopia.

When the Church in Alexandria and in Ethiopia split from the Church in Rome in the sixth century due to an unfortunate Christological misunderstanding, the Church which had been one became divided.

Between the 13th_18th centuries, various consistent missionary attempts had been carried out in Ethiopia to re-introduce Catholicism. Since there was already a Christian church in the Country, most of the missionary attempts were not concerned with the conversion of the non-Christians, but securing the adhesion to the Holy See of the existing Church. Yet these missions eventually failed due to the national-religious attachment of the Ethiopians, in particular, the Coptic
Coptic Orthodox Church in Africa
This article, dealing with the Coptic Orthodox Church in Africa, is about the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria in African countries other than Egypt....

 party, to their Monophysite doctrine, and the strict link between religious and political struggles.

The Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 voyages of discovery at the end of the fifteenth century opened the way for direct contacts between the Church in Rome and the Church in Ethiopia. Due largely to the behaviour of the Portuguese Afonso Mendes, whom Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII , born Maffeo Barberini, was pope from 1623 to 1644. He was the last pope to expand the papal territory by force of arms, and was a prominent patron of the arts and reformer of Church missions...

 appointed as Patriarch
Patriarch
Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is called patriarchy. This is a Greek word, a compound of πατριά , "lineage, descent", esp...

 of Ethiopia in 1622. Emperor Fasilides
Fasilides of Ethiopia
Fasilides was of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty...

 expelled the Patriarch and the European missionaries, who included Jerónimo Lobo
Jerónimo Lobo
Jerónimo Lobo was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary.He was born in Lisbon the third of at least five sons and six daughters to Francisco Lobo da Gama, the Governor of Cape Verde, and Dona Maria Brandão de Vasconcelos. He entered the Order of Jesus at the age of 14...

, from the country in 1636; these contacts, which had seemed destined for success under the previous Emperor, led instead to the complete closure of Ethiopia to further contact with Rome.

From 1839 Msgr. Justin de Jacobis
Justin de Jacobis
Saint Justin de Jacobis was an Italian Lazarist missionary who became Vicar Apostolic of Abyssinia and titular Bishop of Nilopolis.-Biography:He was born at San Fele, Province of Potenza in southern Italy...

, and subsequently Cardinal Guglielmo Massaia
Guglielmo Massaia
Guglielmo Massaia was an Italian Catholic missionary, Capuchin and Cardinal. His baptismal name was Lorenzo; he took Guglielmo as religious name.-Life:...

, resumed Catholic missionary activities. The Catholic communities presently found in Ethiopia are mostly the fruit of the vigorous work of the above-mentioned missionaries, de Jacobis, and Cardinal Massaja.

During the Italian occupation of Ethiopia Catholicism was strongly supported, mostly by the Italian community of Addis Abeba
Italians of Ethiopia
Italians of Ethiopia are the colonists from Italy who moved to colonize Ethiopia in the 20th century, and their descendants.-History:The 1880s were marked by the Scramble for Africa in Ethiopia and Eastern Africa, when the Italians began to vie with the British and French for influence in the area...

.

In the 1940s, Emperor Haile Selassie invited Jesuit priests to found the University College, which became Haile Selassie University (now Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa University
Addis Ababa University is a university in Ethiopia. It was originally named "University College of Addis Ababa" at its founding, then renamed for the former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I in 1962, receiving its current name in 1975.Although the university has six of its seven campuses within...

), the first university in Ethiopia.

See also

  • Christianity in Ethiopia
    Christianity in Ethiopia
    Christianity in Ethiopia dates to the first century AD, and this long tradition makes Ethiopia unique amongst sub-Saharan African countries. Christianity in this country is divided into several groups...

  • Ethiopic Catholic Church
  • Archdiocese of Addis Abeba

External links

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