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The Eritrean Catholic Church ( la, Ecclesia Catholica Erythraea; ti, ኤርትራዊት ቤተ ክርስቲያን, translit=Chiesa Eritrea) is a metropolitan ''
sui iuris ''Sui iuris'' ( or ) also spelled ''sui juris'', is a Latin phrase that literally means "of one's own right". It is used in both secular law and the Catholic Church's canon law. The term church ''sui iuris'' is used in the Catholic ''Code of Ca ...
''
Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...
particular church In metaphysics, particulars or individuals are usually contrasted with universals. Universals concern features that can be exemplified by various different particulars. Particulars are often seen as concrete, spatiotemporal entities as opposed to a ...
headquartered in
Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The c ...
,
Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia i ...
. It was established in 2015 by separation of its territory from that of the
Ethiopian Catholic Church The Ethiopian Catholic Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ካቶሊክ ቤተ ክርስቲያን; la, Ecclesia Catholica Aethiopica) is a metropolitan '' sui iuris'' Eastern particular church within the Catholic Church, established in 1930 in Eth ...
and the setting up in that territory of a new ''
sui iuris ''Sui iuris'' ( or ) also spelled ''sui juris'', is a Latin phrase that literally means "of one's own right". It is used in both secular law and the Catholic Church's canon law. The term church ''sui iuris'' is used in the Catholic ''Code of Ca ...
'' metropolitan Eastern Catholic Church. It follows the Ge'ez form of the Alexandrian
liturgical rite Christian liturgy is a pattern for worship used (whether recommended or prescribed) by a Christian congregation or denomination on a regular basis. The term liturgy comes from Greek and means "public work". The majority of Christian denominatio ...
. Its strictly-speaking official name is "The Asmara metropolitan ''sui iuris'' Church". Like the other Eastern Catholic Churches, the Eritrean Catholic Church is in
full communion Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constitutes full communion, bu ...
with the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
. It holds to the Christological definition taught at the Council of Chalcedon and accepts the universal jurisdiction of the
Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
. These points distinguish it from the
Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( ti, ቤተ ክርስትያን ተዋህዶ ኤርትራ) is one of the Oriental Orthodox Churches with its headquarters in Asmara, Eritrea. Its autocephaly was recognised by Pope Shenouda III of Alexandr ...
, which is an
Oriental Orthodox The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 60 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches are part of the Nicene Christian tradition, and represent o ...
church comprising most
Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...
in the country. Like the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Catholic Church follows the Ethiopic
liturgical rite Christian liturgy is a pattern for worship used (whether recommended or prescribed) by a Christian congregation or denomination on a regular basis. The term liturgy comes from Greek and means "public work". The majority of Christian denominatio ...
in the Ge'ez language, a Semitic language which fell out of common use several centuries ago. This rite is based on the
Coptic Church The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...
liturgy.


History


Pre-20th century

In 1839
Giustino de Jacobis Giustino Sebastiano Pasquale de Jacobis, CM (9 October 1800 – 31 July 1860) was an Italian Catholic bishop and member of the Congregation of the Mission who became a Vicar Apostolic in Ethiopia and Eritrea and the Titular Bishop of Nilopolis. ...
, an Italian Vincentian priest, arrived as a missionary in the area that is now Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. He preferred to employ the local
liturgical rite Christian liturgy is a pattern for worship used (whether recommended or prescribed) by a Christian congregation or denomination on a regular basis. The term liturgy comes from Greek and means "public work". The majority of Christian denominatio ...
in the Ge'ez language rather than the Roman Rite in
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
. He attracted a considerable number of local priests and laity to enter into
full communion Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constitutes full communion, bu ...
with the Catholic Church. He died in 1860 at Halai, near Hebo, in what is now the Southern Administrative Region of Eritrea. In 1869, Italy began to occupy Eritrea and in 1890 declared it a
colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state'' ...
of the
Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...
, fostering immigration of Italians. In view of the changed situation, the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
set up on 19 September 1894 the Apostolic Prefecture of Eritrea, entrusted to Italian
Capuchins Capuchin can refer to: *Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an order of Roman Catholic friars *Capuchin Poor Clares, an order of Roman Catholic contemplative religious sisters *Capuchin monkey The capuchin monkeys () are New World monkeys of the sub ...
, thus removing Eritrea from the territory of the Apostolic Vicariate of Abyssinia of the Vincentians, who were predominantly French.''
Annuario Pontificio The ''Annuario Pontificio'' (Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also provides name ...
'' 1964, p. 741
In the following year, the governor of the colony expelled the remaining Vincentian priests on the unfounded suspicion of having encouraged armed resistance. Most of the local population who became Catholics had been members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, whose Ethiopian portion became the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...
in the mid-20th century when it was granted its own patriarch by Cyril VI, Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. They kept the rites of that Church in the ancient liturgical language of Ge'ez, giving rise to an Ethiopic-Rite Catholic community.


First half of 20th century

The prefecture apostolic of Eritrea was raised by the Holy See to the status of Apostolic Vicariate (headed by a
titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...
) in 1911. In addition, an
Ethiopic Rite Alexandrian rites are liturgical rites employed by three Oriental Orthodox churches, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as well as by their Eastern Catholic count ...
Ordinariate In the organisation of the Catholic Church and of the Anglican CommunionSee, for example, thAnglican Military Ordinariate in Canada an ordinariate is a pre- or pseudo-diocesan ecclesiastical structure, of geographical or personal nature, headed by a ...
of Eritrea was established on 4 July 1930, removing those Catholics from the jurisdiction of the then much larger
Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
Vicariate.Changes in Ecclesiastical Circumscriptions in Eritrea
GCatholic.com
''Annuario Pontificio'' 1964, p.40 Father Kidanè-Maryam Cassà, who since 1926 had been their pro-vicar within the Vicariate, was appointed their ordinary and on 3 August 1930 was ordained titular bishop of
Thibaris Thibaris was a town in the late Roman province of Africa Proconsularis. Location An inscription fixes the exact site at the ruins now called Henshir Hamamet, in a plain watered by the Wady Tibar, which has retained the name of the town. These r ...
in the chapel of the Pontifical Ethiopian College in
Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...
. At that time they numbered less than 3% of the population of Eritrea. The greater importance at that time of the Latin Vicariate is reflected in the impressive church dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary that was completed in 1923 as the seat of the Apostolic Vicariate. Even after the demise of the Vicariate in 1995, it is still called "the cathedral".


Association with Ethiopia

At the beginning of the 1940s nearly 28% of the population of
Italian Eritrea Italian Eritrea ( it, Colonia Eritrea, "Colony of Eritrea") was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. The first Italian establishment in the area was the purchase of Assab by the Rubattino Shipping Company in 1 ...
, which had been part of
Italian East Africa Italian East Africa ( it, Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI) was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire, conquered in the Secon ...
since 1936, was Catholic; mostly Italians and of the Latin Church. There was a pronounced fall in the number of Italians present after the end of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, when Eritrea was at first under British military administration. The British census of 1949 showed that Asmara, the capital, had only 17,183 Italians out of a total population of 127,579. The departure of Italians accelerated further when Eritrea came under Ethiopian authority at the end of 1950. The relationship between the Latin Vicariate and the Ethiopic Ordinariate was thus inverted. On 31 October 1951, the Ordinariate of Eritrea was raised to the level of an
Exarchate An exarchate is any territorial jurisdiction, either secular or ecclesiastical, whose ruler is called an exarch. The term originates from the Greek word ''arkhos'', meaning a leader, ruler, or chief. Byzantine Emperor Justinian I created the first ...
(the Eastern equivalent of a Vicariate) under the name of the Apostolic Exarchate of Asmara, at the same time as the Apostolic Exarchate of Addis Ababa was created. On 25 July 1959, the name of the Latin Vicariate of Eritrea, which in spite of the greatly reduced number of its faithful kept its rank, was changed to Apostolic Vicariate of Asmara. However, after the fourth and last bishop who was Vicar Apostolic of Asmara retired on 2 June 1974, the Vicariate was administered by the Capuchin priest Luca Milesi, who became a bishop only when the Vicariate was suppressed in 1995 and he was appointed the first Eparch of Barentu. On 28 February 1961, the
Ethiopian Catholic Church The Ethiopian Catholic Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ካቶሊክ ቤተ ክርስቲያን; la, Ecclesia Catholica Aethiopica) is a metropolitan '' sui iuris'' Eastern particular church within the Catholic Church, established in 1930 in Eth ...
was established as a Metropolitan ''sui iuris'' Church, consisting of the Archeparchy of Addis Ababa and two suffragan sees, one of which was that of Asmara, while the other was the newly created
Ethiopian Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat The Ethiopian Catholic Eparchy of Adigrat ( la, Eparchia Adigratensis) is a Catholic eparchy located in the city of Adigrat, Ethiopia. It is in the ecclesiastical province of Addis Ababa. History On 25 March 1937, Pope Pius XI established the Pre ...
(previously the Prefecture Apostolic of Tigray). Coincidentally, the
Eritrean War of Independence The Eritrean War of Independence was a war for independence which Eritrean independence fighters waged against successive Ethiopian governments from 1 September 1961 to 24 May 1991. Eritrea was an Italian colony from the 1880s until the d ...
began later that year, and ended in 1991 with a decisive Eritrean victory.


In independent Eritrea

On 21 December 1995, under
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
, parts of the Eparchy of Asmara became two new eparchies, based respectively in Keren and Barentu. The much-reduced Apostolic Vicariate of Asmara was abolished. The only Catholic Church jurisdictions in Eritrea were thus all of the
Ethiopian Catholic Church The Ethiopian Catholic Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ካቶሊክ ቤተ ክርስቲያን; la, Ecclesia Catholica Aethiopica) is a metropolitan '' sui iuris'' Eastern particular church within the Catholic Church, established in 1930 in Eth ...
, making Eritrea the only country where all Catholics, including members of the Latin Church, are entrusted to the care of Eastern Catholic bishops. On 24 February 2012,
Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...
created a fourth eparchy based in Segheneyti with territory taken from the then Eparchy of Asmara. On 19 January 2015,
Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
erected the Eritrean Catholic Church as an autonomous ''
sui iuris ''Sui iuris'' ( or ) also spelled ''sui juris'', is a Latin phrase that literally means "of one's own right". It is used in both secular law and the Catholic Church's canon law. The term church ''sui iuris'' is used in the Catholic ''Code of Ca ...
'' metropolitan church with Asmara as its metropolitan see and the other three Eritrean eparchies as suffragans, separating it from the Ethiopian Catholic Church, whose metropolitan see was left with three suffragans.Apostolic Constitution (papal bull) ''Multum fructum'' of 19 January 2015
/ref>


Eparchies

There are four
eparchies Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on the ...
(
bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
s) in the country: *The metropolitan see is the Archeparchy of Asmara *The Eparchy of Barentu with faithful drawn largely from the
Kunama people The Kunama are an ethnic group native to Eritrea. They are one of the smallest ethnic communities in Eritrea, constituting only 2% of the population. Most of the estimated 260,000 Kunama live in the remote and isolated area between the Gash and ...
*The Eparchy of Keren with the highest percentage of the local population (nearly 12%) and with faithful drawn largely from the
Bilen people The Bilen (also variously transcribed as Blin, and also formerly known as the Bogo, Bogos or North Agaw) are a Cushitic ethnic group in the Eritrea. They are primarily concentrated in central Eritrea, in and around the city of Keren and further ...
*The Eparchy of Segheneyti in the country's Southern Administrative Region.


Statistics 2016


Relations with Government of Eritrea

Since 2004, the State Department of the United States of America has repeatedly listed the State of Eritrea as a country of particular concern with regard to religious freedom. However, it indicates that the Catholic Church is granted some favours, limited in number and extent, not granted to other religious communities: "permission to host some visiting clergy; to receive funding from the
Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...
; to travel for religious purposes and training in small numbers; and to receive exemptions from national service for seminary students and nuns". National service is demanded of most Eritreans, men and women, between the ages of 18 and 40, or in practice 50 or more, and is often of indefinite length. The Catholic bishops issued on 25 May 2014, the 23rd anniversary of the independence of the state, a pastoral letter that some saw as critical of the Government. An English translation of the document, the original of which is in the
Tigrinya language (; also spelled Tigrigna) is an Ethio-Semitic language commonly spoken Eritrea and in northern Ethiopia's Tigray Region by the Tigrinya and Tigrayan peoples. It is also spoken by the global diaspora of these regions. History and literature ...
, extends to 17 pages. The bishops spoke of the emigration of the many young Eritreans who risk their lives in the hope of emigrating to other countries. They repeated what they had written in 2001: " -one leaves a land of milk and honey to seek another country offering the same opportunities. If one's homeland is a place of peace, jobs and freedom of expression there is no reason to leave it to suffer hardship, loneliness and exile in an effort to look for opportunity elsewhere." They spoke also of "the delusion engendered as result of the non-achievement of the ends proposed, the uselessness of one’s own aspirations, looking to distant lands as the only alternative for self-fulfilment, are bringing a growing number of people to frustration and desperation. They find themselves looking at a horizon that grows always darker and heavier. Alongside this, the breakup of the family unit inside the country – through military service unlimited in terms of time and monetary reward and through the imprisonment of many young people in actual prison or in punishment camps – is exposing to misery not only elderly parents with no visible means of support, but also entire families and it is having serious consequences at the economic level as well as at the psychological and mental levels." The Eritrean agency TesfaNews questioned the bishops' sincerity and interpreted information provided by
WikiLeaks WikiLeaks () is an international non-profit organisation that published news leaks and classified media provided by anonymous sources. Julian Assange, an Australian Internet activist, is generally described as its founder and director and ...
as evidence that the Archeparch of Asmara "is a certified, anti-government and National service religious leader residing at the helm the capital Asmara".


See also

*
Christianity in Eritrea Eritrea as a country and the Eritrean community are multi-religious; Eritrea has two dominant religions: Christianity and Islam, with most estimates placing the Christian share of the population at approximately 60%. Eritrean Christians are prima ...
*
Religion in Eritrea Religion in Eritrea consists of a number of faiths. The two major religions in Eritrea are Christianity and Islam. However, the number of adherents of each faith is subject to debate. Estimates of the Christian share of the population range from 47 ...
*
List of saints from Africa This is a list of saints, blesseds, venerables, and Servants of God from Africa, as recognized by the Catholic Church or other Christian denominations. These people were born, died, or lived their religious life in any of the states or terri ...


Notes


External links


Eparchy of Keren Asmara Cathedral

Eastern Catholic Churchs: Statistics 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eritrean Catholic Church Christian organizations established in 2015 Christian denominations established in the 21st century 2015 establishments in Eritrea