Ethiopian Church. Ethiopia Orthodoxy, Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Monophysites, Ark of the Covenant, kyne, photo. Beth Giyorgis Church, Lalibela
Reposted from http://www.taday.ru/text/1093506.html
Let’s ignore the traditional keynote reference to “Monophysites” for the Russian Orthodox Church, because The story itself is friendly.
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Ethiopia is the only Christian country in Africa since ancient times, where there is a very high percentage (60%!) of Christians. Of these, 50% are Monophysites and 10% are Protestants. Did you feel like you were in a Christian country?
Certainly. Moreover, throughout the trip I tried to spot traces of the Islamic presence. In some places I saw mosques with minarets. After all, there are at least 40% Muslims there, and some believe it is more. But, of course, this country is, first of all, deeply Christian. Everyone we encountered was Christian. Moreover, deeply and soulfully believers, regardless of their social status. We were met by a very elegant Ethiopian lady, the owner of a successful travel agency, who spoke excellent English and does business with Western companies. I arrived a little earlier than my friends, and she invited me to a restaurant, where, to my surprise, I found out that she was fasting (it was the end of the Nativity Fast). I asked her how many of her acquaintances (realizing that they were the prosperous Ethiopian elite) observed fasting? She said that was probably it. And then I regularly encountered manifestations of such deep Christianity. Here's the situation. We are in a tourist place, the Lalibela complex, which is also a pilgrimage center. Quite secular-looking young people walk there, making money by providing intermediary services to tourists. In Soviet times they would have been called black marketeers. And so they escort me to the antique shop. We pass the church. Not ancient. They all stop, ask me for forgiveness, come up to the fence of this church, lean against it, kiss this fence and return. We continue on our way.
These are the features. Christianity there is absolutely alive and everywhere friendly.
But do Christians have any idea that Russia is an Orthodox country?
It occurs to us that the Ethiopians are monophysites and, from our point of view, heretics, the same as the Armenians or Copts. Ethiopians don’t understand this at all. They have no awareness that there are other Orthodox Christians, be they Greeks or Russians.
When you try to start a conversation with educated people on this topic, that we have a significant difference in faith, they look and don’t understand: how? We have one common Christianity! Yes, we had problems with Catholics, they say: there was a king who in the 15th century tried to “Catholicize” us, but we rejected him, and in the end we had to baptize everyone (we were even shown a huge pool where thousands of those baptized into Catholicism were rebaptized! ). But you and I are definitely of the same faith! Well, yes, we have our own characteristics: our liturgy is different, our language is different, and in general everything is different. So what? The main thing is that we are Christians, not Muslims, that we have a common faith in the Trinity, Christ, and the Mother of God.
Ethiopian worship
Have you ever attended an Ethiopian worship service?
In the ancient capital of Axum. There are three temples there. One is small, inaccessible, where the Ark of the Covenant is kept. Next to it is a 17th-century temple with interesting paintings from the same time. And the third, new huge church, where we attended the Christmas service.
We went there as a group, which included both men and women. In principle, women are not allowed into the temple according to their rules. But the European guests, all of them, both men and women, were let in, and even taken to the best seats, showing us all kinds of attention, without even asking whether we were Christians or not. They were happy to show us their holiday, their secret and share it with us. I must say that they found very grateful spectators and listeners in us and in some other few tourists. I was amazed by the Ethiopian liturgy, which seems to be incredibly ancient. The liturgy is written in the ancient sacred language of Ge'ez.
In general, it is very difficult with languages in Ethiopia, because there are about 80 of them there. And about 30 different tribes. There are dominant languages like Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, but it is spoken by only 25%.
What language do Ethiopians communicate with each other?
Educated people speak English. The situation is similar to India. The third most important language spoken in the north is Tigrinya. We had a driver with us whose native language is Amharic, he did not understand anything in Tigrinya, and the local people did not speak Amharic. Ordinary peasants, of course, did not know English either, so there was zero communication between us.
Returning to the liturgy...You see, when you get to the Copts, you understand that you find yourself in an ancient practice of the 4th-5th centuries, in our minds pre-Byzantine. And when you get to the Ethiopians, you see Christianity, not separated from Judaism, Jewish liturgical rites. I remember biblical images, David, galloping in front of the ark...
Do Ethiopians also dance in worship?
Yes. Both the clergy and those present. The liturgy takes place as a kind of sacred dance, of course, not a hopak, but a ritual dance...
What kind of dance does this remind me of? round dance?
No, not a round dance. If we turn to very distant comparisons, then the minuet. The dance is accompanied by music. The two main musical instruments are bells and drums. People move in dance movements and ring bells they hold in their hands, which look like small abacuses with metal ringing plates. The drum, a symbolic image of the Body of Christ, also plays an important role in Ethiopian worship. The two stones inside it symbolize the divine and human nature of Christ. The ribbon with which he is tied is an image of the burial shrouds of Christ. I was reminded of the ancient liturgical interpretations of Sophronius of Jerusalem and Herman of Constantinople. There was a feeling of worship from the time of King David. In a religious sense, it was difficult for me to share it, but what was happening was fascinating.
Does the dance continue throughout the service?
The Christmas service lasted 5 or 6 hours. People were on the move almost constantly. During pauses, the priest probably delivered a sermon, which, unfortunately, was not accessible to me due to my lack of knowledge of the language. There was no choir as such. Sometimes they sang something, but we didn’t hear significant choral music like in Russia. The highest priesthood did not stand out from the general mass. Obviously, there were several bishops present (this is like the Axum Cathedral!), however, all the clergy were dressed approximately the same. A white turban on his head distinguished him from a simple believer. That's all.
I remember the white clothes of the Ethiopians at the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and at the St. Sergius Metochion in Paris...
Ethiopians' holiday clothes are always white. Both priests and ordinary parishioners. It is very expressive - a dancing crowd of people in white, the general rhythm of hundreds of bells, the sound of dozens of drums. Moreover, when you are present at different liturgies, Armenian, Coptic... you notice that they are all compiled according to the same matrix, even the Catholic one, with all its external dissimilarity, but here you see a different, pre-Byzantine matrix, which was reworked, partly deliberately forgotten, but in Ethiopia remained.
Ethiopian Church and Ark of the Covenant
You have not once mentioned when and how the Ethiopian Church arose!
The Ethiopian Church appeared at the beginning of the 4th century. Since ancient times, Ethiopia has understood itself as the New Israel. And the Ethiopian kings considered themselves descendants of Solomon. No more, no less. In Ethiopia, the legend about the origin of Ethiopian civilization from King Solomon, who cunningly and cunningly, as befits him, seduced the Queen of Sheba, is still incredibly popular. As a result of their union, Prince Menelik was born.
At the age of 20 he was sent to his father. He accepted him, recognized him and offered, as the Ethiopian legend says, to stay in Jerusalem and inherit Solomon’s kingdom. But Menelik was a patriot of his country. Then King Solomon gave him the best sons of Israel so that they would return together to Ethiopia and establish the New Israel there. These young men did not want to leave without the main shrine and stole the Ark of the Covenant from Solomon's Temple with all its contents. Do you remember that there were the tablets of the Covenant, and the vessel with manna, and Aaron’s rod. The Ark of the Covenant, with all its contents, was brought to Ethiopia, and Solomon left a copy of it in Israel. The Ethiopians claim that the stolen Ark is still kept in Axum, but no one has the right to see it (and never had before). It stands in a specially built church, which is always closed. You can approach it and pray at its walls.In general, the topic of the Ark of the Covenant and the succession of Ethiopia from Israel is incredibly popular in the country. The most important element of the liturgical decoration of any Ethiopian church is a replica, a small copy of the Ark of the Covenant, which stands on the altar as a sign of connection and symbolic unity between Solomon's temple and every temple in Ethiopia. I bought one such item, it’s called a tabot, an old one, about 100 years old, from a village church and brought it to Moscow. The subject itself is unique because there is no analogue in any Christian tradition. This is a small Ethiopian ark in the form of a carved wooden casket with a cross on top. On four sides, like an iconostasis, it opens with icons of Christ, the Mother of God, saints, and gospel events.
Do all tabots have the same set of plots?
It varies, but the main plots are repeated. And the carrying of this tabot, or Ark of the Covenant, at certain points in the service is an important part of the liturgical rite of the Ethiopian lithiums. This sanctifies the space. In general, a lot is connected with the idea of a new Israel in Ethiopia. In particular, the Ethiopian Church, unlike, say, the Greek or Russian Churches, has never had such a denial and denunciation of Judaism. The Ethiopians saw no conflict between the Jewish and Christian traditions. They believed that this was a normal change of things: there was an Old Testament temple, then a new temple arose, Christianity appeared.
As a kind of external expression of this indissoluble connection, in almost every church there is an image of a six-pointed Star of David, with a cross in the center. This is the main symbol of Ethiopian Christianity.
Ethiopian monuments
Please tell us about the most significant monuments you saw in Ethiopia. In terms of quality, what are they comparable to?
Among these monuments there are great ones. If not from the top ten, then from the top twenty of world cultural heritage. I am referring primarily to Lalibela, the Ethiopian New Jerusalem. This is the oldest New Jerusalem in the world, built as a kind of complex at the end of the 12th - beginning of the 13th centuries, when the Ethiopian king Lalibela, who learned that Salah ad-Din had conquered Jerusalem from the Crusaders, and Jerusalem was lost for Christians, decided to create a New Jerusalem from yourself in Ethiopia. He found a place, a rocky mountain, and decided to carve Jerusalem into it. The result was a complex of 16 temples, carved from top to bottom. The craftsmen came to the top of the rock and began to dig down, carving out bizarre temples, with an interior, with a large internal space inside one huge rock. This is an absolutely unique project, which in the Christian tradition should be placed among the ten most important monuments in the world. Lalibela is the most famous monument in Ethiopia. It was conceived as a Holy Land project. There is the place of Golgotha, there is the Mount of Olives, there is the Jordan, there is a place of baptism, i.e. everything is intended as a landscape spatial icon.
There are few ancient paintings left in some temples. Although the paintings in the Ethiopian temple did not play the same role as they played in the Byzantine or Old Russian temple. But, nevertheless, these are plot compositions on gospel themes, usually running as a frieze under the ceiling. In general, the art of icon painting itself and the tradition of icon veneration in Ethiopia clearly took shape only in the 15th century.
Were there no images before the 15th century?
There were images. The images I'm talking about are from the end of the 12th century. There are also earlier frescoes. But there was no tradition of icon veneration, as in Byzantium. In the Monophysite Churches it is difficult to venerate icons. There is no aggressive denial of the icon, but there is no pronounced icon veneration either. Apparently, it was not in the ancient Church either. We are aware of the bitter disputes that took place at that time. Eusebius of Caesarea categorically opposed holy images. His letter to the daughter of Constantine the Great, Constance, is known, where he explains to her that it is not good to venerate images.
Meanwhile, in Byzantium, already in the 6th-7th centuries, images were distributed everywhere!
Yes, but it is believed that this was one of the reasons for iconoclasm. But in the Monophysite tradition, as well as in the Roman one, there was no iconoclasm. In the 15th century, one of the emperors of the Solomonid dynasty became acquainted with Italian culture and became imbued with Western Christianity. It was he who introduced decrees to the veneration of icons in Ethiopia. And from that time on, both icon veneration and icon painting there acquired forms that do not exist anywhere else in the Christian world. Now in Ethiopia, icons are created in huge quantities. They are made in the same technique, a little primitive, expressive and folkloric, but incredibly lively and touching. They are in every way similar to the icons of the 15th century. Nothing has changed in style or technology. And only specialists in Ethiopian painting, of which I am not one, will be able to distinguish an icon of the 15th century from an icon of the 20th century.
Ethiopian temple
How is the Ethiopian temple structured?
Ethiopian temples are different in design. There are basilica churches, there are round ones, there are cruciform ones. There are 16 churches in Lalibela, they are all different. There is no standard for church construction there. But the main idea is that the altar is completely closed. Only the clergyman can enter it during the service. The altar is closed with a wall, and the entrances are covered with a thick curtain. And no one sees what happens inside the Holy of Holies. This is a very interesting arrangement of sacred space: the altar part does not interact with the space of the temple. In Byzantium, the altar space was first open and absolutely visible, and only then closed; somewhere in the 9th century, a process began that led at the end of the 14th century to the appearance of the high Russian iconostasis. Here we see a model of the Old Testament Holy of Holies, which is inaccessible to the uninitiated.
Are these temples on Lake Tana painted?
In the temples that stand on Lake Tana, all the walls are painted from top to bottom with very bright paintings, like popular prints. These are the Ethiopian lives of the saints. One of the most popular characters, the saint is depicted standing on one leg and with wings. His name won't tell you anything, but his story is amazing. He came up with this type of asceticism - standing and praying on one leg. Apparently, there was no pillar nearby. And for many years he stood on one leg and prayed. As a result, the second leg withered away, but the Lord, seeing his incredible piety, rewarded him with wings. And that is why he is depicted on one leg with wings. This is such a wonderful story.
Most of the subjects are recognizable one way or another, for example, the icon of St. George slaying the dragon. For us, Muscovites, Georgians, Scots and Ethiopians, this is a common patron. In Ethiopia, the image of the Holy Trinity is very common, and not in the form of three angels, but actually three images of identical elders sitting on a throne. Moreover, all the images are bright, flashy, decorative, iridescent, shocking, and overlapping. Everything is very lively, simple, without Byzantine intellectualism and aristocratic sophistication, everything is one emotion. And this is still the case in their art. You leave the temple, there is a bench right there on which lie dozens, hundreds of icons from 5 cm to a meter in size, painted in exactly the same style. Many Ethiopians wear icons on themselves. Large crosses are also popular, demonstrating their commitment to Christianity.
Summary of the Ethiopian World
Alexey Mikhailovich! You traveled through all the countries of the former Byzantium. Please formulate a summary of the Ethiopian world, Ethiopian art against the background of this general picture of Byzantium!
If the resume, i.e. something very short - unlike anything else! An absolutely special, unique, deeply Christian and deeply lost world for our civilization. He lives autonomously, and is very important for understanding the basics and origins, but is closed in on himself. This is a unique reservation. And, thank God, there were no fossils or anything in Ethiopia that would attract greedy owners from outside.
There is no feeling of unhappiness, but rather the opposite of authenticity and naturalness of being against the backdrop of complete poverty. However, in India you come across this and are amazed: you see complete poverty and at the same time absolutely full-fledged people, satisfied with their lives. They live in God, work honestly for mere pennies, thank the Lord for this life and are completely happy. This is an experience that is worth reflecting on as a value system. Of course, an incredibly interesting layer of world culture is associated with Ethiopia: unlike anything else, complex, deep. Ethiopia is a very beautiful country. These are mountains, green valleys between the mountains (I repeat, this is not scorched Africa). They are attractive, friendly, intelligent, decent people who live by genuine values. And it costs a lot.
These essays are an attempt to combine some historical information and facts about the Ethiopian Church with the small experience that I had from meeting this Church during a visit to Ethiopia in June 2006 with my colleague Father Alexander Vasyutin. Anyone who wishes to write about the Ethiopian Church will not be a pioneer. However, probably not everyone who wrote about this Church, at least in Russian, had the opportunity to directly come into contact with the living tradition of this Church - Ethiopia remains one of the least accessible countries in the world. These notes may be subjective in nature - especially in the part that concerns the description of the current state of the Church. However, such subjectivity is inevitable, especially if we take into account that I was able to observe only a few aspects of the life of the Church during just five days of my stay in it.
Story
So first, some facts and history. The self-name of the Ethiopian Church is Ethiopian Orthodox Church Tawahedaw. Tehuahedo means “united” and is essentially a theological formula that denotes the way in which the Divinity and humanity are united in Christ. The Ethiopian Church is the only one that uses a theological formula in its self-name. It is the largest of all the Churches of the pre-Chalcedonian tradition, but also the most isolated - primarily due to the geographical remoteness of Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Church is also one of the most ancient Christian Churches. She herself traces her origins to apostolic times, when the eunuch of the Ethiopian queen Candace was baptized by the Apostle Philip (Acts 8: 26–30). However, at that time the name Ethiopia did not refer to present-day Ethiopia, but to Nubia in modern-day Sudan. Only after in Aksum in the second century A.D. The Solomonid dynasty reigned, and this name was adopted for the country. Along with this name, another was used - Habasha or, in its Hellenized form, Abyssinia.
Ethiopia is made up of many ethnic groups, the largest of which are the Oromos, Amharas and Tigrayans. Some Ethiopian peoples are of Semitic origin, and such Ethiopian people as the Falasha still profess Judaism. According to an ancient Ethiopian legend described in the book "The Glory of Kings" ( Kebre Negest, XIII century), the first royal dynasty of Ethiopia - the Solomonids - traced their origins to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. However, this legend cannot be confirmed by historical data.
Ethiopia became one of the first countries in which Christianity was established as a state religion. According to Rufinus, the Aksumite rulers were converted to Christianity by Saint Frumentius, the son of a Syrian merchant who was shipwrecked in the Red Sea and enslaved in Aksum. Here he began to preach the Gospel and was eventually able to become the teacher of the heir to the kingdom of Aksum. Having received his freedom, he left for Alexandria, where Saint Athanasius of Alexandria was ordained bishop for the newly formed Ethiopian Church. Here he converted the Aksumite king Ezan to Christianity. Saint Frumentius thus became the enlightener of Ethiopia. No wonder the Ethiopians call him the “Father of Peace” and the “Discoverer of Light” ( Abba Salama, Cassate Berhan).
As a result of the missionary activity of Saint Frumentius, the Ethiopian Church for many centuries found itself in the sphere of influence of the Alexandrian bishops, who until recently played a vital role in the life of this Church, providing it with metropolitans and bishops. Until the middle of the 20th century, the Ethiopian Church did not have bishops of Ethiopian origin, but exclusively Coptic ones. In the life of the Ethiopian Church, secular power traditionally played an important role - even to a greater extent than was customary in Byzantium. An illustrative example is that until recently, secular persons were often appointed abbots of the largest monasteries, as well as abbots of the historical Aksum Cathedral.
Secular rulers, together with the Church, contributed in every possible way to the Christianization of Ethiopia, although they failed to completely convert the entire country to Christianity. Back in the 7th century, the first Islamic communities formed in Ethiopia, and now the Islamic population of the country is even slightly larger than the Christian population. Also, paganism has always been preserved in Ethiopia, and tribes of pagan anemists still live in the south of the country. The history of the Ethiopian Church was very turbulent in the 16th century, when Ethiopia was first invaded by the Muslim conqueror Ahmed Grang (1529–1543), and then the Jesuits arrived with the Portuguese army, who, under Emperor Susneyos (1508–1532), managed to achieve a short-term union of the Ethiopian Church with Rome. The union did not last long and ended in a bloody civil war. The Jesuit mission was eventually expelled from Ethiopia by Emperor Fassiladas in 1632. At the same time, the German missionary Peter Heiling arrived in Ethiopia with a Protestant mission. His mission also eventually ended in the exile of the preacher from the country. The activities of Western missionaries led to the fact that the Ethiopian Church, trying to protect itself from foreign influences, closed itself to the outside world and found itself in self-isolation. She has only recently begun to renew contact with the outside world.
Throughout all centuries of the history of the Ethiopian Church, beginning with the ordination of Saint Frumentius by Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, this Church was part of the jurisdiction of the Alexandrian Church (after the Council of Chalcedon - the Coptic Church). Throughout this time, Alexandria supplied bishops to Ethiopia and had complete control over the Ethiopian Church. However, from the beginning of the 20th century, the Ethiopian Church began to demand greater independence. As a result, the first four Ethiopian bishops were ordained for her in 1929 to assist the Coptic metropolitan. The first attempt to secede from the Coptic Church was made during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia (1935–1941) and was supported by the occupation authorities. The Copt Cyril, who was the Ethiopian metropolitan at that time, refused to sever relations with Alexandria, for which he was expelled from the country. Instead, Bishop Abraham, an Ethiopian by nationality, was appointed Metropolitan of Ethiopia. However, he was immediately deposed by the Coptic Church. After the war, an attempt to make the Ethiopian Church independent was made again, this time with the support of Emperor Haile Selassie (1930–1974). As a result of difficult negotiations in 1948, an agreement was reached with Alexandria on the election of an Ethiopian metropolitan from among the local hierarchs. When Metropolitan Kirill, who returned from exile, died in 1951, he was replaced by the Ethiopian Basil (Bazilos). In 1959, Alexandria confirmed Basil as the first Ethiopian Patriarch. Since that time, the Ethiopian Church has been considered autocephalous.
The independence of the Ethiopian Church was not easy for her. The last emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, played a decisive role in this, who essentially forced the Coptic hierarchy to make concessions. Haile Selassie was a great benefactor of the Ethiopian Church. He traced his ancestry back to the time of the Queen of Sheba and bore the loud title “Lion invader from the tribe of Judah, the chosen one of God, king of kings.” The very name he took upon his elevation to the imperial throne is Haile Selassie, meaning “Power of the Trinity.” He was ordained to the diaconate.
Haile Selassie was overthrown in 1974 by a military junta and died in Addis Ababa in 1975. The regime that seized power in Ethiopia was supported by the Soviet Union. Major Mengistu Haile Mariam, who headed it in 1977, initiated real persecution against the Church. Many churches and monasteries were closed, their property was taken away by the state, many bishops, priests and monks were thrown into prison, some were executed. Thus, in 1979, Patriarch Theophilus (Tevofilos), who was deposed in 1976, was killed. After the fall of the Mengistu regime in May 1991, Patriarch Mercury (Merkorios), who had headed the Ethiopian Church since 1988, was accused of collaboration and expelled from the country.
On July 5, 1992, the synod of the Ethiopian Church elected Abuna Paul as the new patriarch, who still heads this Church. He is already the fifth patriarch of the independent Ethiopian Church. His full title: His Holiness Abuna Pavlos, Fifth Patriarch and Catholicos of Ethiopia, Echege of the Throne of Saint Takl Haymanot and Archbishop of Aksum ( Abuna in Arabic means "our father"; title Catholicos worn by church primates outside Byzantium; echege– elder – means the head of monastic communities; Takla Haymanot– one of the largest monastic communities (houses) in Ethiopia; Aksum- the first historical see of the Ethiopian Church). Abuna Pavel was born in 1935 in Tigray province in the north of the country. This province is essentially the Christian core of Ethiopia. The family of the future patriarch was closely connected with the monastery of Abuna Gerima, where Paul entered the monastic life as a boy. Abuna Paul studied first in Addis Ababa, and then went to America, where he took a theology course at St. Vladimir's Seminary. There his teachers were Archpriest Alexander Schmeman, Archpriest John Meyendorff, and Professor S.S. Verkhovsky. After this, he entered the doctoral program at the no less famous Princeton Theological Seminary, but did not have time to complete it, as he was recalled to Ethiopia by the then Patriarch Theophilus - at that time a coup was just taking place in the country. These difficult years for the Ethiopian Church became a testing period for Paul as well. In 1975 he was ordained bishop by Patriarch Theophilus, who was soon afterwards removed from the see and then killed. Paul's ordination was not sanctioned by the authorities, and he was sent to prison, where he spent eight years. In 1983, Pavel was released from prison and left for the USA. Here he finally completed his doctorate at Princeton and continued his ecclesiastical career, being elevated to the rank of archbishop. During the change of power in Ethiopia, Paul returned to the country and was elected as the new patriarch.
The removal of Mercury from the patriarchal see and the election of Paul became a source of unrest in the Ethiopian Church. Mercury, who emigrated to Kenya, did not recognize the new patriarch. He was also not recognized by the Ethiopian Archbishop in the United States, Ezehak, who in 1992 interrupted Eucharistic communion with Addis Ababa. In response, the synod of the Ethiopian Church appointed a new archbishop in the United States, Matthias. Ezehak, however, refused to recognize this decision of the synod. As a result, the Ethiopian diaspora in North America was split - part of it remained loyal to Ezehak and never recognized Abuna Paul as the Ethiopian Patriarch.
Another serious problem that the Ethiopian Church has faced in recent years has been the self-proclamation of the Eritrean Church. The Eritrean Church separated from the Ethiopian Church after the formation of the independent state of Eritrea in 1991. This Church, largely under political pressure, was recognized by the Coptic Church, which appointed a patriarch for it.
Recently, tensions have also been growing in Ethiopia between Christians and Muslims, who currently outnumber Christians. In particular, a large Islamic community lives in Addis Ababa, where there are about 150 mosques compared to about 130 places of worship of the Ethiopian Church. Recently, Islam has increasingly strengthened its position in Ethiopia, receiving economic support from Saudi Arabia and the nearby Islamic countries of Somalia and Sudan. Many Ethiopians go to work in Islamic countries and either convert to Islam there or take Islamic names for themselves, becoming crypto-Christians.
Pagan communities remained in southern Ethiopia. Emperor Haile Selassie invited European Protestant missionaries to these regions in the mid-20th century to evangelize the pagans. As a result, Protestantism took root in the country, spreading mainly in the southern regions of Ethiopia, as well as in Addis Ababa.
Creed of the Ethiopian Church
The Ethiopian Church has developed in special ways throughout its history. The path of its dogmatic development was also unique. Having received its historical existence from Saint Athanasius of Alexandria and being closely connected with the Alexandrian Church, the Ethiopian Church has always especially revered this Father of the Church. This is evidenced, for example, by the fact that one of the 14 anaphoras of the Ethiopian Church is attributed to Saint Athanasius. One of the most widely read works in the Ethiopian Church was the translation into Gyiz - the ancient Ethiopian language - of the life of St. Anthony, compiled by St. Athanasius of Alexandria. Another Ethiopian anaphora bears the name of the fathers of the Council of Nicaea, which is also especially revered in the Ethiopian Church. Ethiopian theology thus focuses on early dogmatic formulations and concepts associated with the name of St. Athanasius and the Council of Nicaea. Ethiopians are proud that they never accepted Arianism, even despite the fact that St. Athanasius was repeatedly expelled from his see and his place was taken by Arian bishops, and despite political pressure from the Byzantine emperors who supported Arianism. For comparison, it should be noted that the Goths, who received enlightenment at approximately the same time as the Ethiopians, accepted Christianity in its Arian version. Another father who has become an indisputable authority for the Ethiopians is another Alexandrian high priest - St. Cyril. It is noteworthy that one of the most important dogmatic collections in the history of the Ethiopian Church was named after St. Cyril of Alexandria - Kerlos.
The Ethiopian Church, which throughout almost its entire history was in the orbit of the Coptic Church, did not accept the decision of the Council of Chalcedon. However, her doctrine of the Incarnation was finally formed relatively recently - in the 19th century. The impetus for this was the activity of Western missions - Catholic and Protestant, which posed a number of difficult questions to the Ethiopian Church about its theological identity. As a result, for more than two centuries, disputes took place in the Ethiopian Church, mainly concerning the question of the natures of Christ.
As a result, three dogmatic parties were formed within the Ethiopian Church, professing different views on the Incarnation. For one batch - Kebat, which means “anointing,” - the Incarnation consisted of the anointing of Christ with the Holy Spirit. In essence, this teaching was paradoxically close to radical Nestorianism. Second batch - Tsegga Ley, which means “Son of Grace,” adhered to the doctrine of three births of Christ: the first from the Father, the second from the Virgin Mary, and the third from the Holy Spirit after the incarnation. And finally, the third batch - Tehuahedo, which means “unity,” insisted that two natures were united in the one person of Christ: Divine and human. The end point in the disputes between these parties was put by Emperor Theodore (Tewodros) II, who in 1855 by imperial authority banned all other doctrines except Teuahedo. The Tehuahedo doctrine received ecclesiastical confirmation at the Council of Boru Mada in 1878, this time with the support of the Ethiopian Emperor Yohannes and the Shoi king Menelik. True, not a single bishop took part in the Council, because at that time there were simply no bishops in Ethiopia. Nevertheless, the Council was an important event in the unification of the teachings of the Ethiopian Church.
The doctrine of Tehuahedo is fully consistent with the doctrine of the Incarnation, professed by modern pre-Chalcedonian Churches and formed under the influence of St. Cyril of Alexandria as interpreted by Severus of Antioch and a number of other Eastern Christian theologians of the 6th century. This doctrine presupposes faith in the truth and completeness of both the Godhead and humanity in Christ; the double consubstantiality of Christ - to the Father according to Divinity and to us according to humanity; the double birth of Christ - the first from the Father in divinity and the second from the Virgin Mary in humanity. The same Christ performed both Divine and human actions (energies). At the same time, the emphasis of Ethiopian theologians is on the unity of the personality of Christ, in whom Divinity and humanity were united inseparably and unmerged. Ethiopian theologians do not call humanity in Christ a nature, but speak of the “one incarnate nature of God the Word,” following the formula of St. Cyril of Alexandria. Also, while recognizing Divine and human actions and volitions in Christ, they do not speak of two energies or wills in Christ.
Structure and internal life of the Ethiopian Church
The Ethiopian Church is extremely centralized - everything in it happens according to the will and consent of Abuna. Even those bishops who perform administrative functions in the central apparatus of the patriarchate must correspond with the patriarch in minor matters. Another characteristic feature is that bishops kiss the patriarch’s hand. Laymen and priests may even kiss his knees. However, bishops and even priests can kiss their knees. During a dinner with the participation of Abuna Paul, to which we were invited and which was given in honor of the patriarch by the parishes of Addis Ababa, we witnessed one extremely curious custom. While the bishops and priests were saying toasts in honor of the patriarch, a woman was squatting next to a large dish over the fire and frying incense on this dish. The smoke from the incense spread throughout the room. When the speeches ended, the woman removed the dish from the fire. Thus, we witnessed the literal understanding of the expression “cense for the boss” by the Ethiopians!
The Ethiopian Church occupies one of the first places not only in the number of believers, but also in the number of clergy. There are no definitive statistics on this matter, and the figures that were given to me by the Ethiopian Patriarchate often differ from data published by other sources. According to the maximum estimate, for approximately 70 million people in Ethiopia, there are about half a million clergy who minister to approximately 30,000 communities! In addition to Ethiopia, these communities are also located in Jerusalem, the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. There are many clergy assigned to the parishes of the Ethiopian Church. For example, in the churches of Addis Ababa there are 150 priests, and some parishes even have 500 clergy!
In the Ethiopian Church there is a unique rank of clergy - dabtara. Although this rank is not ordained, it nevertheless performs an important function in the Church and in its purpose is close to our readers or choir singers. At the same time, dabtara not only sing in churches, but also play musical instruments and dance! Also, the dabtara are the main bearers of theological knowledge and church traditions of the Church and in this way resemble church didaskals.
There is another very interesting institution in the Ethiopian Church - the Theological Council. It includes about 10 theologians. Candidates for inclusion in the council are proposed by the patriarch and approved by the synod. The Council functions on a permanent basis, that is, its members gather together every day and, sitting at the same table, jointly carry out the tasks that the Church sets for them. Their main task at this time is the translation of the Holy Scriptures into modern Amharic. The Church uses a translation of the Scriptures into ancient gyiz, but this translation is incomprehensible to most Ethiopians and, moreover, it is made from the Greek Septuagint. When translating Scripture into modern Amharic, theologians, in addition to the Septuagint, also rely on the Hebrew text. In addition to translation activities, members of the Theological Council deal with current issues - they give their expert opinions on the problems that arise in the life of the Ethiopian Church. Speaking of the Ethiopian canon of the books of Holy Scripture, it is interesting to note that it includes a number of apocryphal books, as well as the “Shepherd” of Hermas, which was included in the canon of the ancient Church, but was then excluded from it.
The Ethiopian Church pays great attention to catechesis, religious education and clergy training. The latter is especially relevant given their huge number. The main educational institution of the Ethiopian Church that trains clergy is the Holy Trinity Theological College in Addis Ababa. Its rector, Archbishop Timofey, once studied at the Leningrad Theological Academy. In general, a significant part of the current elite of the Ethiopian Church speaks Russian, since many studied in Leningrad theological schools. The college was founded back in 1941 by Emperor Haile Selassie. Under the emperor, this educational institution first trained teachers for schools and was part of the public education system, and in 1967 it was transformed into the Faculty of Theology of Addis Ababa University. The rector of the college at that time was the famous Indian theologian V. Samuel - for many years one of the most prominent participants in inter-Christian theological dialogues, including with the Russian Orthodox Church. Under Mengistu, the Faculty of Theology was closed and all its premises were expropriated. The college was reopened in 1993 and is now the highest educational institution of the Ethiopian Church. Although it has ceased to be part of Addis Ababa University and its diplomas are not recognized by the state, nevertheless, the university recognizes college diplomas and actively cooperates with it. Construction of a new academic building of the college will begin in the near future to replace the old buildings. Education at the college is conducted mainly in English, as in all schools and universities in Ethiopia. Therefore, the library is stocked mainly with books in English. Amharic and Gyiz languages are taught separately. Moreover, at gyiz, students learn not only to read and write, but even to compose poems. Along with traditional theological subjects, such interesting disciplines as “Statistics and research methods”, “Principles of management in the Church”, “Computer literacy”, “Fundamentals of accounting”, “Preservation and maintenance of antiquities”, “Preparation, monitoring and assessment of social projects." In shaping the educational process, the college leadership is guided by secular standards. Thus, the initial course - Bachelor of Theology - here is designed for 5 years. This is followed by specialization - 3 years, after which students receive a master's degree. The college is now preparing to offer students the opportunity to write doctoral dissertations. Despite this focus on secular standards of education, the college serves the needs of the Church and is primarily aimed at training clergy. All college students are required to be deacons. The Ethiopian Church follows an ancient church tradition in which deacons are allowed to marry, although priests are no longer allowed to do so. The majority of the clergy of the Ethiopian Church are married.
On the position of the Orthodox Church in Ethiopia, as well as on the traditions, customs and features of worship - Professor Alemnev Azene and priest Andrei Ukhtomsky (who translated the article by Prof. A. Azene “Renouveau dans l"Eglise Orthodoxe Tawâhedo d"Ethiopie" // "Irenikon" - 2012, No. 2-3).
From the author
Over the course of almost 40 years, Ethiopia experienced a real political revolution - from an empire in which the Tawâhedo Orthodox Church was the “state Church” to a “neutral” regime adhering to the principle of religious neutrality. From 1974 to 1991, the communist government of Ethiopia, following the Soviet model and seeking to control the Church, confiscated most of its properties. It is symptomatic that it was then that any official presence near or far from any “cult” was prohibited. In addition, under the pressure of the modern West through the media, as a result of the cultural revolution and the development of tourism, young Ethiopians are confronted with problems that their parents did not know. It would be interesting to learn from the Ethiopian Orthodox priest, Professor Alemnev Azene, about the current situation of the Church, about what he sees today.
It should be noted that Protestants - numerous and very active in Ethiopia - largely helped the Orthodox communities, using many means, while being, however, in opposition to the latter. The first Protestant missionaries in Ethiopia set themselves the goal of “awakening” Ethiopian Christianity, which, in their eyes, was still living in the Middle Ages. They, of course, succeeded, but they are not happy to see the rivalry that exists today between Protestants and Orthodox Christians.
Most Orthodox Christians are indistinguishable from Protestants and are influenced by evangelical Pentecostals or the like, despite the fact that one of the main groups of "Protestants" (that is the new head of state) does not accept the Trinity, but only Jesus. This can be understood by looking at the numbers: the 2007 census showed that the Orthodox Church is represented by 43.5% of the country's inhabitants, Islam 33.9%, Protestantism (without distinction of interpretations) 18.6%, traditional religions 2.6% and Catholicism ( Latin rite or Geez rite) 0.7%. However, the 1994 census by the same government recorded 54% Orthodox and 10.2% Protestant. From this it is not difficult to conclude that the majority of Protestants are formed from the Orthodox Church! There is a constant exchange between the Orthodox followers of the “charismatic movement” and the Protestant “Pentecostals”, and people are so deceived that many members of the Orthodox Church become charismatic against their will.
These principles also help to understand how "ecumenism" or simply "peacemaking" comes into being. It is inserted into the Ethiopian context, where Islam is currently successful, supported - logistically and financially - by Saudi Arabia and Sudan, and where the relevance of the Christian view should not serve as a "church for others", but rather as a church for those who have not yet had the experience of a personal meeting with Christ in order to meet Him in Truth. But, of course, people have their limits: there is always a gap between what should be and what is, and there should be no doubt about showing tolerance towards each other, and that God is with each of us .
In a changing world, the Tawâhedo Ethiopian Orthodox Church is making great efforts to protect believers, especially young people, as recent events have particularly undermined faith and distanced them from God. The Church is committed to preserving its liturgical, spiritual and canonical heritage in order to help maintain and develop a truly religious spirit that will enable true Christians to take their full place in Ethiopian society. Here's a quick overview showing some aspects of its update.
Religious singing
Traditionally, the Liturgy of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tawâhedo Church is not limited to singing, but is also accompanied by liturgical dance. Liturgical dancing and singing are performed only by priests or deacons in the Qenê mâhelêt (western part of the church, outer aisle - translator's note). The text of the chant must be taken exclusively from liturgical books, where we find hymns attributed to Saint Yared (Yârêd). These hymns, sung antiphonally, by the way, are found in Deggwâ (the main hymnographic book for the services of the entire annual circle), Soma Deggwâ (used during Lent), Zemmârê (Mes'hafe Zemmârê contains antiphonal hymns sung after Communion), Mawâse' et (a book containing answers to the canonarch) and Me"erâf (contains unchangeable places of worship). But all these books are written in the classical language of Ge'ez, which has not been spoken for several centuries. Therefore, the clergy have been training for 20 years (! Of the laity, only the educated can help perform liturgical chants, the rest of the believers do not take any other possible participation except joyfully exclaiming “yu-yu” (eleltâ, the cry of joy for geez).
Currently, Yared's hymns are sung in youth movements, which are an outstanding wealth of the national heritage. Also - songs and dances using instruments that are not used by the clergy. And all believers can now take direct part in the singing. We often see girls during services here playing the drums or holding the handle of the sistrum (liturgical sticks for performing dances at festivals) - but they do this at the front of the church, not inside it.
As for the language of church chants, they are no longer limited to the language of Ge'ez. Now they sing in Amharic, Oromo and other languages, so that people understand the chants in the same way as the sermon, which is usually delivered in the local language. Thus, many people returned to the church.
A number of chants have also been adapted, but traditional ones have also been preserved. Some of them have been replaced by new texts, hymns that express the joy of Christians called by God through faith and baptism. They teach that now is the time to bear fruit, and not to indulge in the illusions of the world. These chants sound a call to follow Christ and requests for the intercession of the Virgin Mary. Hymns of Ethiopian saints who have reached a high spiritual level in their Orthodox faith are also sung. Hymns consecrate either liturgical holidays (Easter, Christmas, Transfiguration, mid-Lent, New Year, etc.), or various circumstances of life, including Christian marriage, infant baptism, etc.
In addition, young people, privately or in groups, began to record large quantities of CDs and DVDs with selected chants. But often with distortions and not the best consequences. Therefore, it was decided that everyone could apply for permission from the liqâwent gubâ"ê or "Council of Clergy" to record the chant. Artists such as Deacon Tézeta Samuel, Zemarit Mertenesh Telahun, Zerfé Kebede) and others were previously unknown, but now they have replaced the Protestant hymns that were popular at that time, and now we can hear them in all taxis and shops. For believers of other faiths, it has become commonplace to first ask for the CDs of Zerfe Kebede or Rohama , and then return to the Orthodox faith.
Evangelism
When the voice of the Church in Ethiopia diminished, the faith was passed on from generation to generation in the family. In an Orthodox family, a boy was baptized on the 40th day after birth, a girl on the 80th day, thus making them devoted to the Church. However, without enlightenment and preaching of the faith, these children became, so to speak, simply members of the Church. Religious education was the domain of the clergy. But now, in this “golden age” of evangelism, young people are no longer satisfied with a family heritage of faith; they often want to know the content of the faith, obey its commandments and increase their influence. That is why during the holidays in each parish - and sometimes in a group of parishes - many people gather to listen to the gospel sermon. There are also teachers who teach religious doctrine. This is new in the history of the Ethiopian Church.
On the other hand, the sermon is currently conducted in a modern language, without abstracted sources in Ge'ez, a liturgical language that few understand. The preachers are mainly priests, but also young men, graduates of the theological school of Holy Trinity College and St. Pavel. But in Addis Ababa they abandoned the traditional system of scholia and commentaries, the so-called “exegetical chains” (this practice, however, continues to develop in Ethiopia!), preaching in the most acceptable way today.
The enthusiasm of the youth is evident in the meetings they organize (held with the permission of the parish leadership). At their own expense, they print selected biblical texts, put such images on T-shirts, place advertisements on public transport, prepare meetings using multimedia, and finally attract huge crowds of people, so that the church yard can sometimes barely accommodate everyone. What can I say? Participants in such meetings can freely communicate not only about Christian teaching, but also about everything that interests the participants. Nowadays it is also nice to see women covered with a shawl (shemma) as usual, and participating in the life of the parish on an equal basis with men. At the end of such a meeting, everyone sings together with lit candles: “We are the light of the world, we are the children of the apostles. We have separated from the darkness of the world and walk in the light, we are children of the light.”
This “learned experience” recorded on cassettes and CDs is widespread. In addition, magazines and secular newspapers often have religious pages in which the best preachers answer readers' questions. The recent development of apostolic activity in the Orthodox Church has become such news that the Protestant newspaper Mâtétès for 17 Hedar 2003 (November 2010) described “the progress that the Orthodox have made quite quickly,” and stated that they, the Protestants, also intend to establish contact with their believers. Obviously, a new page is being written in the history of the Church of Ethiopia.
Pilgrimage
It is well known that Ethiopians have always sought to make pilgrimages to the Holy Land in order to worship those places where our Lord Jesus Christ was born, raised, crucified and buried, and where He was resurrected; to receive blessings from these places, which have absorbed so much sadness and grief.
Some Ethiopians recommend taking a spiritual journey for a month or twice a year. This spiritual tradition, inherited from their ancestors, is an integral part of their faith. Nowadays we often see young Ethiopians going on pilgrimage. When visiting a monastery, monks wash the feet of pilgrims, while nuns wash the feet of pilgrims. Each church has a pilgrimage department.
The most popular pilgrimages are the Church of Our Lady of Zion in Axum (where, according to legend, the Ark of the Covenant is located, which is the basis of Ethiopian Christianity), Lalibela - a city that is named after the famous monarch famous for its rock-cut churches, Mount Karbe (which means "myrrh") from Amba Geshen - a mountain famous for its figured diameter, where King Zara Jacob (Zar "a Yâ"qob) (1434–1468) placed the relic of the True Cross and other shrines received from father Dâwit (1382–1411 ). Also known among pilgrims are the peaks of the Zeqwâlâ volcano, where Saint Guebré Menfes Qeddous lived, prayed and died; the monastery of Debre Libanos, located on an impressive escarpment one hundred kilometers from Addis Ababa, where Saint Tekle Haymanot created a network of missionary monasteries; monasteries on the islands of Lake Tana, tombs of holy kings, whose churches keep ancient manuscripts, etc.
Preachers and singers (not a church choir!) enliven the trip to the holy place, with preaching, teaching and singing at every stop. They sing about the virtuous monastic life, the desire for God, who saves ascetics who have left their father and mother, and the glory of the world. If night falls, pilgrims do not go to the inn - but to the church, where they pray at the service of the hours or at the Prayer of the Covenant (Kidân), imagining that man was created in order to thank God like the angels.
Procession with tâbot (altar slab)
An Ethiopian temple usually has a “portable altar” (tâbot), a church altar, installed permanently or portable. Тâbot corresponds to the “Ark of the Covenant”, it is the altar. The tâbot consists of a wooden board (sometimes stone) carved with the name of God (for example Medhâné "Alem, meaning "Redeemer", or Sellâsié - "Trinity") or the saint in whose honor the temple is consecrated.
Historically, the tâbot has its origins in Coptic portable altars and, like them, is a stone altar containing relics that Latin Rite clergy place in their altars at consecration. The Tâbot cannot be consecrated by anyone except the bishop, it cannot be touched by anyone except the bishop or priest, and it cannot be seen by the laity (if the laity sees it, it is immediately reconsecrated). It is there that the service is performed. Each church usually has several tâbots, and the main one is named after the event or saint in whose name the church was consecrated. The situation is very similar to the traditions of churches in the West.
The devotion with which the tâbot is worn by the Ethiopians is respectable, and since it is comparatively easy to wear, it is used in processions on the occasion of great festivals. In particular, at the moment of negs (lit. “enthronement”), which occurs on the day of the feast of the Lord, the Virgin Mary, a martyr, an apostle or another saint (saint). The priests then carry the tâbot (covered by a veil so that the laity cannot see it) during a procession around the temple, among the people who glorify God through the intercession of the saints. This is a demonstration of exceptional piety in Ethiopia.
To be continued.
1. From a Protestant point of view, the situation is presented very interestingly by a specialist on Ethiopian Pentecostal movements, in Haustein J., Die pfingstlich/charismatischen Bewegungen als aktuelle Herausforderung für die Äthiopisch-Orthodoxe Kirche, in Karl Pingéra (ed.), Tradition und Wandel im Land der Köningin von Saba. View from Ethiopia (Evangelical Academy of Hofgeismar), 2011, pp. 73–92 (ISBN 978 3 89281 265 4). The other articles in this collection of lectures are also equally useful in assessing the local situation.
2. We hardly know whether Ethiopia's all-Muslim courts are administered by the Ministry of Justice and funded by the state, or whether the Deputy Prime Minister is a Muslim who sees little from Amhara, a region that is overwhelmingly Orthodox. In addition, the race for visibility to create large mosques is seriously changing the landscape.
3. The Orthodox Church of Ethiopia ("Miaphysite") calls itself Tawâhedo (a word meaning "union" and refers to the description of the indestructible union of the two natures: Divine and human in the person of Christ). More accurate data about Ethiopia and, in particular, about Christianity in this country can be found in the 4-volume Ethiopian Encyclopedia (Encyclopaedia Aethiopica (EAE)); the last volume is in preparation. The encyclopedia is published in English by the University of Hamburg. It will give more than one link.
Ethiopian Orthodox Church
According to ancient tradition, the first great Christian educator of the Ethiopians was St. Frumentius, a Roman citizen from Tyre, who was shipwrecked on the African coast of the Red Sea. He gained the trust of Emperor Aksum and soon converted his son, the future Emperor Ezana, to Christianity, who declared Christianity the state religion in 330. Frumentius was subsequently ordained bishop by St. Athanasius of Alexandria and returned to Ethiopia, where he continued the evangelization of the country.
Around 480, the Nine Saints arrived in Ethiopia and began their missionary work here. According to legend, they were from Rome, Constantinople and Syria, which they had to leave due to opposition to the Christology of Chalcedon. For some time they stayed in the monastery of St. Pachomius in Egypt. Fix influence (along with the traditional connection with the Copts in Egypt) explains why the Ethiopian Church rejected Chalcedon. The "Nine Saints" are believed to have finally put an end to the remnants of paganism in Ethiopia, instilled a monastic tradition and made an enormous contribution to the development of religious literature: they translated the Bible and other religious works into classical Ethiopian. Monasteries spread throughout the country and quickly became important spiritual and intellectual centers.
The Ethiopian Church flourished in the 15th century, when a lot of talented theological and spiritual literature appeared, and the Church was actively engaged in missionary activities.
The extremely negative experience of contacts with Portuguese Catholics in the 16th century (see Ethiopian Catholic Church, IV. p. 3) led to centuries-long isolation, from which the Ethiopian Church has only recently begun to emerge.
This Church is unique in that it has preserved some Jewish rituals, such as circumcision and observance of biblical laws on eating food, as well as the celebration of the Sabbath along with the Resurrection. This is probably due to the fact that Christianity came to Ethiopia directly from Palestine through South Arabia. It is believed that Judaism was known in Ethiopia even before the arrival of Christianity. There were also unusual Christological theories in Ethiopia, including the doctrine that the union of the divine and human natures in Christ occurred only after His anointing at Baptism. These teachings were never officially recognized and for the most part disappeared.
The Ethiopian liturgy is of Alexandrian (Coptic) origin, but it was influenced by the Syriac tradition. Until recently, the liturgy was served in the ancient language of Ge'ez. Nowadays modern Amharic is increasingly used in parishes. A powerful monastic movement survived.
Since ancient times, all bishops in Ethiopia were Egyptian optos appointed by the Coptic Patriarchate. Moreover, for many centuries the only bishop in Ethiopia was a Coptic metropolitan. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the Ethiopian Church began to demand greater autonomy and the election of local bishops. In 1929, four local Ethiopian bishops were ordained as assistants to the Coptic metropolitan. In 1948, with the help of Emperor Haile Selassie (reigned from 1930 to 1974), an agreement was reached with the Copts to elect a local metropolitan after the death of Metropolitan Kirill. When he died in 1951, a meeting of clergy and Mipians elected the Ethiopian Basil as metropolitan. This is how the autonomy of the Ethiopian Church was established. In 1959, the Coptic Patriarchate confirmed Metropolitan Basil as the first patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
There was an Ethiopian Orthodox Faculty of Theology (Holy Trinity College) at the University of Addis Ababa, but the government closed it by 1974. That same year, the Church established St. Paul's College in Addis Ababa to train future priests in theology. The desire to become a priest is common among Orthodox Ethiopians; in 1988 there were 25,000 clergy in the country. To provide them with proper education, six “Priest Training Centers” have recently been opened in different parts of Ethiopia. Almost every parish has a Sunday school.
The Ethiopian Church, especially in recent years, has been actively helping those in need. She provides assistance to refugees and drought victims, and many orphanages have been established under her patronage.
Until the socialist revolution of 1974, which overthrew the emperor and installed Colonel Meng-ntu Haile Mariam at the head of the government, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was the state Church. Soon after the revolution, the Buddha Church was separated from the state and most of the church lands were nationalized. This served as a signal for the start of an anti-religious campaign throughout the country.
After the fall of the communist government in May 1991, Patriarch Mercury (elected in 1988) was accused of collaborating with the Mengistu regime and was forced to resign as patriarch. On July 5, 1992, the Holy Synod elected Abuna Paul as the fifth Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. He spent seven years in prison under the Marxist regime after Patriarch Theophilos (deposed in 1976, killed in prison in 1979) ordained him bishop in 1975 without state permission. In 1983, Pavel was released from prison and spent several years in the United States. Patriarch Mercury, who emigrated to Kenya, refused to recognize Paul's election. Archbishop Ezehak, the Ethiopian archbishop of the United States, also did not recognize this election and in 1992 broke off liturgical communion with the patriarchate. In response, the Ethiopian Holy Synod stripped him of his powers and appointed Abune Matthias Archbishop of the United States and Canada. Because Archbishop Ezehak enjoys the support of many Orthodox Ethiopians in America, there has been a split in the Ethiopian community in that country.
In October 1994, in the presence of Patriarch Paul, the Holy Trinity Theological College in Addis Ababa was re-opened. 50 students studying at this college will receive a theological degree and 100 will receive diplomas.
The following information on the number of believers is given by the World Council of Churches. According to credible Ethiopian sources, this number is estimated at 30 million, i.e. Orthodox Ethiopians make up about 60% of the total population of 55 million.
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The tradition of the Ethiopian Church traces its beginnings to apostolic times, when the eunuch of the Ethiopian queen Candace was baptized by the Apostle Philip (Acts 8: 26–30). However, history connects the creation of the Church in the 4th century with Saint Frumentius, a Roman citizen from Tyre, who, after being shipwrecked in the Red Sea, was enslaved in Ethiopia (Kingdom of Aksum). In Aksum, Frumentius began to preach the Gospel and was eventually able to convert Emperor Ezan to Christianity and become the teacher of his heir. in 330, Christianity was proclaimed the state religion of the Aksumite kingdom. Thus, Saint Frumentius became the enlightener of Ethiopia and is still revered by Ethiopians as the “Father of the World” and the “Discoverer of Light.” Having received freedom, he arrived in Alexandria, where Saint Athanasius the Great was ordained bishop and primate of the newly formed Ethiopian Church.
With the installation of Frumentius as Bishop of Ethiopia by Athanasius of Alexandria, the Ethiopian Church found itself in canonical unity with the Church of Egypt and in formal subordination to the See of Alexandria. This formality was determined, on the one hand, by the geographical remoteness and isolation of Ethiopia, on the other hand, by the special hierarchical and administrative structure of the Ethiopian Church, which has no analogues in other local Churches, where administrative control was carried out by secular dignitaries. Having become the first primate of the Ethiopian Church, Saint Frumentius was its only bishop for the entire country, as a diocesan bishop ordaining only priests and deacons. At the same time, church parishes and monasteries were managed by secular persons. This tradition of the existence of a Church with one bishop in the Orthodox Church lasted throughout the centuries and was changed only in the 20th century. At the same time, the appointed bishop was always a Coptic.
Each time, after the death of the primate of the Ethiopian Church, whom the Ethiopians called Abuna, or Abbatachine (Our Father), the Patriarch of Alexandria selected a candidate from among the Egyptian monks and ordained him as bishop of Ethiopia. At this point, practically, the leading role of the Patriarch of Alexandria ended. After a long, often dangerous transition from Egypt to Ethiopia, the newly installed first hirarch was obliged to spend the rest of his life in Ethiopia, in almost complete isolation from his people and his Egyptian Church. He was revered by the Ethiopians as their primate, as a person who in his spiritual power succeeded Saint Frumentius, and from him Athanasius of Alexandria, beloved by the Ethiopians, but he himself could feel lonely here, and even perceive his service as an exile.
Largely for this reason, secular power has traditionally played an important role in the life of the Ethiopian Church. The influence of secular power on the Church in Ethiopia was even greater than was customary in Byzantium. The administrative head of the Ethiopian Church, Echeghe, who controls all churches and monasteries, has been the abbot of the great Shoan monastery of Debre Libanos since the 15th century. He heads a complex ecclesiastical hierarchy in which provincial dignitaries, known as liqa kahinata (chief priests), occupy a prominent position. Among these local dignitaries, the church of Nebur'ed - the ecclesiastical head of Aksum and the holy places in the north - occupies a particularly honorable position. Every significant church or important monastery has for its head an alaka, who is usually rich.
On the other hand, the ordinary priest (kes), although enjoying the greatest respect, lives quite modestly, often like an ordinary working peasant. Each church has a minimum of two priests and three deacons, in addition to the sacristan (gabaz), the treasurer (aggafari), the chief choirboy (mari geta), they and their subordinates form a fairly high proportion of the population. There are many clergy assigned to large parishes of the Ethiopian Church. For example, in the churches of Addis Ababa there are 150 priests, and some parishes even have 500 clergy. Thus, the Ethiopian Church occupies one of the first places not only in the number of believers, but also in the number of clergy. The best estimate is that there are about half a million clerics for Ethiopia's approximately 70 million people, serving approximately 30,000 communities.
In the Ethiopian Church there is a unique rank of clergy - dabtara. Although this rank is not ordained, it nevertheless performs an important function in the Church and in its purpose is close to the readers of the Greek Orthodox tradition or choir singers. At the same time, dabtara not only sing in churches, but also play musical instruments and dance. Also, the dabtara are the main bearers of theological knowledge and church traditions of the Church and in this way resemble church didaskals. Text hidden
So, we return to the question of how, next to the saints received through the Copts from the universal church and the Monophysites borrowed from them, the Ethiopian Christians acquired their local ones, who occupied such a prominent place in their calendar. The chronicles do not give us any indication of this; some things that are not always clear and complete are reported by the lengthy lives; in general, we can make more or less probable assumptions, based on what we know about the practice of the universal church in ancient times, on the one hand, and the features of the structure the Ethiopian Church - on the other. The ancient universal church assumed the holiness of the apostles and martyrs eo ipso, and only from the period of asceticism began to develop some rules of canonization, which for a long time were not complicated and probably had diocesan bishops as the highest authority. Researchers even find it possible to talk about “coercive influence” on the will of the latter by the laity, as well as about canonization that preceded the episcopal one. The latter could take place especially in those cases when it came to great ascetics, who were honored at the monasteries as founders, mentors and leaders, and the surrounding laity - for the holiness of life, miracles and spiritual leadership 15. Let us remember that in our country it is unlikely it is possible to prove the immediacy of episcopal canonization for the majority of saints, as for such pillars of Russian monasticism as Sts. Theodosius of Pechersk 16, Sergius of Radonezh 17 and others, then we have to come to the conclusion that their veneration began immediately after their repose, so to speak, by itself, without the authority of episcopal power 18. If this could be in Russia, where and during the time of the metropolitans -Greeks, who did not believe in the glorification of Russian saints, had a complete and continuous church hierarchy, then in Abyssinia the structure of the church also contributed to this. First of all, this country does not constitute an autocephalous church in the legal sense; Until now, she is in the same relationship to the Alexandrian Monophysite patriarchy in which the Russian was to the Constantinople before her autocephaly. The only difference is that for the most part there was one bishop and certainly a foreigner, a person completely alien to the country, despising his wild flock. With all this, cases of prolonged widowhood of the department were common. One foreign bishop in a large state fragmented by both nature and history, often completely absent and almost never loving his flock, was at the same time not legally or the highest authority; above him stood liqa-papasat za Eskenderja - the patriarch of Alexandria, interested in distant Ethiopia only insofar as it gave him income when sending a new abuna there. Meanwhile, the Ethiopians little by little found church dignitaries closer to themselves: not being able to establish a national episcopate, they invented the native Akabe-Saats and Echegge, and also recognized some authority in spiritual matters for the kings.
These authorities were the only ones in those frequent cases when Abyssinia was completely without a metropolitan, but even during the normal course of church life in the country they were closer and more accessible. We must not forget that echegge gradually became a real administrator of the church and the head of an entire deanery organization of mamhers and governors (neburana-ed). Of course, the glory of their native church was dearer to these spiritual dignitaries; it was quite natural for them to take care of including their compatriots in the lists of saints of God and prayer books for their homeland. This is what can be said a priori. It is extremely difficult to say how things actually happened. One thing is certain - canonization in Abyssinia, as in Russia, took place without the participation of the patriarchal throne; The Copts do not know the Ethiopian saints just as the Greeks do not recognize ours, the Abyssinian saints are local in the Monophysite church, just like the Russians are in the Orthodox Church. Further, we can assume that sometimes names were included in the calendar for some special reasons that arose in the cells of ignorant readers. Researchers are horrified by the 25th day of the month Seine with the name of Pilate and the magnification in honor of this Christ-killer, but they probably do not know that this is not the worst: under the 29th of the month we read: “and the death of Alexander the king, son of Philip. May God have mercy on us through his prayers; Amen,” and under 29 Hay “the Dormition of Mark, King of Rome.” If Alexander the Great could still be elevated to prophethood for his sacrifice in the Jerusalem temple, then for Marcus Aurelius, the persecutor of Christians, there was no reason to honor him. How such monsters penetrated into the official church books, we cannot say for sure. Some indications are given to us, however, by a late, but quite similar incident, an eyewitness of which was Bruce, who related it in notes about his journey 19.
Some Dabra-Libanos monk Sebhata-Egziabher came up with the idea of the holiness of Nebuchadnezzar on the basis of such texts as Ezek, 29, 20 Jer. 43, 10, Dan. 3.95-100, and attracted with him many people who respected him for the holiness of life; The court also favored him, and King Takla-Hamanot III was even seriously convinced that Nebuchadnezzar was indeed an Old Testament prophet. The excommunication proclaimed at Sebhata-Egziabhera by Akaba-saat Salama, unloved for his immorality and soon executed on charges of treason, had no effect and crowds of people began to demand a church council, so the government had to take emergency measures to restore calm. How things ended is unknown, since Bruce was soon to leave Abyssinia, but this story in any case indicates to us that, at least at the end of the 18th century. Questions about canonization aroused great interest in society and were not resolved so easily, since the conversation could turn to the cathedral.
Pilate, Alexander, Nebuchadnezzar are biblical figures and, under certain conditions, could be attributed to that class, the very belonging to which determined their inclusion in the calendar. It was only necessary to prove their right to belong to this class. The martyrs were in the same conditions. Among the saints whose lives we know, there are no martyrs in the literal sense of the word 20; there are venerable confessors (Philip, Aaron, partly Takla-Haimanot and Eustathius) and a confessor (Valatta-Petros). Although they did not suffer to death, they endured much persecution, shed blood for their beliefs and, among other things, were awarded the crown of martyrdom. Therefore, their holiness probably went without saying. But whether this was so, we cannot say, since their holiness could have been recognized apart from martyrdom. Philip was the second successor of Takla-Haimanot; if you believe his life, he was the only Ethiopian who was awarded the episcopacy, the father and leader of many monks, and at the same time, a miracle worker. Aaron founded new monasteries not only in the country, but also on its wild southern outskirts, and was, moreover, a miracle worker. Valatta Petros laid the foundation for many monasteries, was a great ascetic, worked miracles during her life and exuded them after death. Despite all this, this champion of the national faith was closely known to both the Tsar and the Metropolitan; It is quite possible that not only the “voice of the people,” but also the government, both spiritual and secular, having defeated the Jesuit army, celebrated their liberation by glorifying the saint. At least, already in the year 30 after her death, her life was written. As for Philip, this sufferer died in front of Metropolitan Salama III, who knew his exploits and buried him; Probably his glorification did not take place without his knowledge. At least his life was written back when the Dabra-Libanos monastery had not fully recovered from the consequences of persecution, and the hagiobiographer considered himself entitled at the end of his work to turn to the saint: “return the scattering of your children, deign to recreate the devastated monastery, raise up its fall.” .... The memory of Aaron also began to be honored by his disciples immediately after his death; Soon the metropolitan was also aware of it, as the life tells about it twice. Text hidden
Few people know that on the African continent there are Ancient Eastern churches of the pre-Chalcedonian era. One of these churches is the Ethiopian (Abyssinian) Orthodox Church. About 60% of the residents of the side are its parishioners. The Russian Orthodox Church has maintained close ties with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church for many centuries. This is manifested both in communication between church hierarchs and during communication between believers.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has its own ritual and a special hierarchy of clergy
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church belongs to the Patriarchate of Alexandria. Its center is in Addis Ababa. Until 1959, it was considered an autonomous church and was canonically dependent on the Coptic Church. Then she received autocephaly.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is one of the pre-Chalcedonian churches.
The church is part of the Ancient Eastern (pre-Chalcedonian) churches. In this capacity it recognizes three Ecumenical Councils. It is unique in that it professes a Multiphysite Christology. She has her own ritual, original. Also, its hierarchical structure of the clergy has no analogues.
Christian Ethiopians recognize some of the commandments of the Old Testament. Most modern Christians consider them irrelevant. Among them, for example, is the observance of food prohibitions characteristic of the Old Testament. In addition, Ethiopians also practice male infant circumcision. This ritual is performed on the eighth day, in full accordance with the commandments of the Old Testament.
Ethiopians descend from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
Ethiopians trace their ancestry back to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The Queen of Sheba is revered as the mother of Menelik I, the first ruler of Ethiopia. Semitic settlers have been penetrating the country for a long time. They did not have a great influence on life in the country, but thanks to them, Christianity in it received original features. It should be noted that Amharic is recognized as the official language in Ethiopia. Divine services are also held there.
Eusebius Pamphilus and the New Testament claim that Christianity was brought to Ethiopia by the Apostle Philip. He baptized the eunuch Aetius, who served at the court of Queen Kadakia. Aetius became the enlightener of Ethiopia (Acts of the Holy Apostles 8:26-30). Saint Frumentius finally established the Christian faith in these places.
Saint Frumentius became bishop around 347.
The saint came from Tire and had Roman citizenship. His ship was shipwrecked on the African coast of the Red Sea. Having gained the trust of the Ethiopian emperor Aksum, he converted his son Ezana to Christianity. When he became emperor, he declared Christianity the state religion in 330. Around the year 347, Saint Athanasius of Alexandria ordained Saint Frumentius bishop of the city of Ascum.
Video: Lives of the Saints St. Frumentius, Archbishop of India (Ethiopia). The film gives a brief retelling of the life of Saint Frumentius, the enlightener of Ethiopia.
It should be noted that Saint Frumentius was in the position of a prisoner at the king’s court, but before his death he decided to release Frumentius to his homeland. Despite this, after the death of Aksum, the saint returned to Ethiopia in order to continue its evangelization.
Ethiopia did not accept Arianism, but became Monophysite
Ethiopia was influenced by the Arius heresy. Its spread in the state was stopped by Saint Athanasius the Great. The fathers of the First Ecumenical Council also fought against Arianism in Ethiopia. That is why one of the fourteen liturgical anaphoras is dedicated to Athanasius the Great, while the other 318 are dedicated to the fathers of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea.
Despite the fact that the Abyssinians (Ethiopians) remained faithful to Orthodoxy, in the 6th century they fell away from the union with the Universal Church. This happened because there have long been disputes about the Holy Trinity on Ethiopian soil. Because of this, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church adopted the Monophysite heresy, following the example of the Copts.
The arrival of the "Nine Saints" finally established Christianity in Ethiopia.
After Saint Frumentius, Bishop Mina led the church in Ethiopia. It was from this moment that Alexandria's special jurisdiction over her began. This continued for sixteen centuries.
Separately, it is necessary to note the contribution that the “Nine Saints” made to the spread of Christianity in the country. They arrived in the country in 480 from Rome, Constantinople and Syria with the aim of conducting missionary activities in it. It is believed that these were opponents of Chalkildon, which is why they left their hometowns, hiding from the persecution of the Byzantine emperor who received him. Saints' names:
this year the "Nine Saints" arrived in Ethiopia
- Aragavi;
- Panteleimon;
- Karima;
- Alaf;
- Seham;
- Afse;
- Liganos;
- Adimata;
- Oz, or Cuba.
The saints lived for some time before moving to Ethiopia in the monastery of St. Pachomius in Egypt. Under their influence and the influence of the Coptic Church, the Ethiopian Church rejected Chalcedon. The saints created a monastic tradition in the country, put an end to the remnants of paganism, and translated the Bible and other religious literature into classical Ethiopian.
Orthodoxy in Ethiopia reached its peak in the 15th century. It was then that talented theological and spiritual literature was written. In addition, at this time the Church was actively engaged in missionary activities. Unfortunately, in 640-642, all of Christian Africa was conquered by Muslims, and for almost a decade Christianity in Ethiopia was in decline.
Wanting to escape the Muslim conquests, Ethiopian Christians turned to the Portuguese and greatly regretted it
Wanting to get rid of Muslim conquests, the Ethiopians turned to the Portuguese. At that time, they were looking for strongholds to organize anchorages for their ships. The Portuguese were interested in the Ethiopians' proposal, as they needed ports to create a sea route to India. They provided military assistance to Negus Leben Dengel and his successor Claudius.
After military successes, the Catholic Portuguese began to conduct missionary activities in the country. Their goal was to bring Ethiopia under Roman Catholic rule through the Jesuits. After a series of bloody battles, Emperor Thessalidas expelled the Jesuits from the country in 1632.
Unfortunately, the expulsion of the Portuguese from the country led to dogmatic disputes developing in Ethiopia. This had a negative impact on the unity of the Church, but allowed the development of church literature.
Due to the fact that the kingdom of Gondar, which at that time existed on the territory of Ethiopia, was divided under the onslaught of Muslims into several separate principalities, its king John I convened a Council in 1668. Thanks to this, the Ethiopian Church was able to maintain its unity.
The Ethiopian Church did not have independence for a long time
Orthodox Ethiopians did not have an independent Church for a long time. The fact is that monasticism is developed in the country, but the church hierarchy has never developed, since the Ethiopian Church from the moment of its creation was considered one of the dioceses of the Coptic Patriarch of Alexandria. The Patriarch always appointed Abuna as the only bishop of Ethiopia.
Abuna translated means “our father”, in addition, the head of the Ethiopian Church is also called “papas”. In the 12th century, Abuna Negus Sinuda tried to gain the right for Ethiopia to ordain several bishops.
This would make it possible to gain autonomy, since as a result a Synod would be formed, which would be endowed with the authority to elect Abuna. Seeing this, the Patriarch of Alexandria did not give his consent to grant autonomy to the Ethiopian Church.
this year the Ethiopian church received autonomy
Emperor Haile Selassie, who ruled from 1930 to 1974, played an important role in gaining independence for the Ethiopian Church. He held the rank of deacon. In 1948, with his help, it was possible to reach an agreement with the Copts to elect a local Ethiopian metropolitan after the death of Metropolitan Kirill.
This happened in 1951, when the Ethiopian Basil became metropolitan or abuna. This date is considered to be the date the Ethiopian Church gained autonomy. Eight years later, the Coptic Patriarchate confirmed Metropolitan Basil as the first Patriarch of the Ethiopian Church.
It should be noted that the second place in the hierarchy of the Ethiopian Church is occupied by echege. This is the head of the black clergy. He is the archimandrite-dean of all monasteries. He does not have the rank of bishop, but he enjoys great influence, since the management of all church affairs is in his hands.
After him come representatives of the white clergy. In this case, church administration is entrusted to various persons of clergy who do not have holy orders. That is why one church can sometimes have several dozen priests and deacons.
In 1988, there were 250,000 clerics in Ethiopia
Many Ethiopians want to become priests. Previously, Addis Ababa University had a faculty of theology or Trinity College. Unfortunately, Holy Trinity College closed in 1974. In the same year, St. Paul's College was opened. His main task was teaching theology to future priests.
Despite this circumstance, church authorities had to open six “Priest Training Centers” in different parts of the country. At the same time, there is a Sunday school at each parish. This circumstance led to the fact that in 1988 there were 250 million clergy in Ethiopia.
In 1988, there were 250,000 priests in Ethiopia.
Until 1974, the Ethiopian Church was state-owned. After the socialist revolution took place, the Church was separated from the state. Almost all church lands were nationalized. The government of Colonel Mengisu Haile Mariam began to carry out an anti-religious campaign throughout the country.
In 1991, the communist government fell. After this, Patriarch Mercury, elected in 1988, was accused of collaborating with the Mengistu regime and resigned. He was replaced in 1992 by the fifth Patriarch Abuna Pavel.
Under the Marxists, he spent seven years in prison after he was ordained without the permission of state authorities by Patriarch Theophilos. Mercury, who emigrated to Kenya, recognized this election as illegal.
Due to external interference, a split occurred in the Ethiopian Church
Due to the fact that the election of Abuna Paul as Patriarch was not recognized by the Ethiopian Archbishop of the United States Ezehak, he interrupted liturgical communion with him in 1992. In response, the Ethiopian Holy Synod decided to strip him of his powers and appoint Abuna Mathias Archbishop of the United States and Canada.
This decision caused a split in the American community of the Ethiopian Church, as Ezehak is highly respected there.
In 2007, the Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches solemnly declared the unity of faith, as well as fidelity to a common witness. In addition, they also intended to further expand their cooperation. Despite this, the Coptic Church supported not only the separation of the Eritrean Church, but also the schism within the Ethiopian Church.
Features of the Ethiopian Church in our time
At the end of the 20th century, the Ethiopian Church counts more than 16 million believers in its ranks. It represents the state religion of the country. There are fourteen dioceses within the Church. In addition there is an archbishop in New York and Jerusalem. There are 172,000 priests serving in 15,000 churches.
Ethiopia (Abyssinia) can only be matched in the number of temples by Russia. Ethiopian churches, like Orthodox churches in Russia, are built on high ground, in prominent places. The largest number of them is located in Aksum, where the first Christian pulpit appeared.
The buildings themselves have a round shape and a cone-shaped roof made of reeds. Also, services are held in caves and rectangular buildings with a flat roof. The altar in them is square with gates to all four cardinal directions. At the same time, the eastern gate is always locked.
The Ethiopian Church preserves the remains of the Ark of the Covenant.
Ethiopia is home to various artifacts and shrines. For example, parts of the Ark of the Covenant are kept here. The Ark of the Covenant was kept in Jerusalem. Its parts were brought to Abyssinia by Menelik I when he went to visit his father, King Solomon. At the same time, the icons of the Ethiopian Church cannot be classified as masterpieces, since they are made in a simple and naive style. The utensils are similar to the utensils of Orthodox churches.
In general, the doctrine and worship of the Ethiopian Church is close to Orthodoxy. Naturally, in this case it is necessary to exclude those features that are characteristic of it as a Monophysite Church. Modern Christian Ethiopians themselves consider themselves to be of the same faith with Orthodox peoples, for example, the Greeks and Russians. Moreover, they are in communion with the same faith Armenian and Coptic Churches.
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