Ethiopian ecclesiastical titles refers to the offices of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, a
hierarchical organization
A hierarchical organization or hierarchical organisation (see spelling differences) is an organizational structure where every entity in the organization, except one, is subordinate to a single other entity. This arrangement is a form of a hierar ...
. Some of the more important offices are unique to it.
Titles
Ethiopian ecclesiastical titles include:
*Patriarch we Re'ese Liqane Papasat —
Patriarch
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...
and
First of the Archbishop,
meaning
Catholicos. Since 1959, the title of the head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is Patriarch Catholicos of Ethiopia. The first Patriarch,
Abuna Basilios
Abuna Basilios (23 April 1891 – 13 October 1970) was an Ethiopian-born first Archbishop or Abuna, and later the first Patriarch, of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Life
Patriarch Abune Basilios was born Gebre Giyorgis Wolde Tsadik in ...
was enthroned by the Coptic Orthodox Pope
Cyril VI in 1959, and so the Patriarchs of Ethiopia are part of the Apostolic succession of the
Holy See of St. Mark. The Ethiopian Patriarchate combined the old offices of
Abuna and Ichege (see below). In 2001, the title of Archbishop of Axum was added to the titles of the Patriarch after Axum was elevated to the rank of an Archdiocese by the Holy Synod.
*
Abuna —
Metropolitan Archbishop
Metropolitan may refer to:
* Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories
* Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England
* Metropolitan county, a typ ...
of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church. From the 4th century until the middle of the 20th century he was a
Copt
Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts are Co ...
ic Metropolitan appointed by the
Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of All Africa to serve as its leader. However, as time passed, the authority of the Abuna was reduced to little more than a figurehead largely because the incumbents spoke little
Ge'ez or
Amharic. In 1948, the Coptic Orthodox
Pope Joseph II under request from
Emperor Haile Selassie I
Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
, appointed the then Ichege (see below) as the first Ethiopian born Archbishop, Abuna Basilios, and granted the Ethiopian church
autocephaly. His successor as Coptic Orthodox Pope,
Cyril VI, elevated Abune Basilios to the exalted rank of
Patriarch
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...
in 1959. The title of Abuna is now held by all the numerous Archbishops and Bishops of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
* Ichege — the
abbot
Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...
of the monastery of
Debre Libanos
Debre Libanos (Amharic: ደብረ ሊባኖስ, om, Dabra libanose) is an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo monastery, lying northwest of Addis Ababa in the North Shewa Zone of the Oromia Region. It was founded in 1284 by Saint Tekle Haymanot as ...
, who served as the second highest ecclesiastic of the Ethiopian church, and was often the ''de facto'' head of that church.
[Munro-Hay, ''Ethiopia'', pp. 42f] Margary Perham describes the position as comparable to a
Vicar-General
A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...
. Beginning in the mid-17th century, the Ichege lived at
Gondar
Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on t ...
while the capital was in that city. The Ichege followed the capital when it moved to
Debre Tabor
Debre Tabor ( am, ደብረ ታቦር, lit. "Mount Tabor") is a town and woreda in north-central Ethiopia. Located in the Debub Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, about 100 kilometers southeast of Gondar and 50 kilometers east of Lake Tana, ...
,
Mekele
Mekelle ( ti, መቐለ, am, መቀሌ, mäqälle, mek’elē) or Mekele is a special zone and capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta awraja in Tigray. It is located around north of the Ethiopi ...
and ultimately
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
.
* Sebate — Administrator of the
Debre Libanos
Debre Libanos (Amharic: ደብረ ሊባኖስ, om, Dabra libanose) is an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo monastery, lying northwest of Addis Ababa in the North Shewa Zone of the Oromia Region. It was founded in 1284 by Saint Tekle Haymanot as ...
Monastery and deputy to the Ichege.
* Aqabe sa'at ("Guardian of the Church hours") -- Chaplain to the Emperor, who served as the third highest ecclesiastic. In earlier times, this office was held by the head of the abbots of
Istifanos Monastery
Istifanos Monastery (or St Stephen Monastery) is a monastery in Ethiopia, located in Lake Hayq. (The Stephen commemorated at the monastery is not the Saint Stephen of Acts.) The church structure was built around the 9th century by the Aksumite k ...
in
Lake Hayq; the earliest recorded abbot of Istifanos to also serve as ''aqabe sa'at'' was Za-Iyasus during the reign of
Amda Seyon I
Amda Seyon I ( gez, ዐምደ ፡ ጽዮን , am, አምደ ፅዮን , "Pillar of Zion"), throne name Gebre Mesqel (ገብረ መስቀል ) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1314 to 1344 and a member of the Solomonic dynasty.
He is best known ...
. This office is extinct.
[
* Qomos — ]Canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
, who has a role in the creation of tabot
''Tabot'' ( Ge'ez ታቦት ''tābōt'', sometimes spelled ''tabout'') is a Ge'ez word referring to a replica of the Tablets of Law, onto which the Biblical Ten Commandments were inscribed, used in the practices of Orthodox Tewahedo Christians ...
s.
* Lique Siltanat' — "Arch-hierarch" title originally granted only to the Dean of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa, but today is granted to the deans of most of Ethiopia's cathedrals.
* Lique Liqawint — "Arch-scholar", head of all clergy in a province.[Perham, ''Government'', p. 109] This title was granted to the Dean and Abbot of the Ba'eta Le Mariam Monastery, the mausoleum church on the grounds of Addis Ababa's Imperial Palace, where Emperor Menelik II and Empress Zewditu are buried.
* Qess-Priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
. Leader of the Mass
* Lique Diaqon — Archdeacon.[Munro-Hay, ''Ethiopia'', p. 48]
* Diaqon — Deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
. In Ethiopian Christianity three deacons and two priests are required to correctly celebrate Mass.[
]
See also
*Aleqa
The title Aleqa ("Master", also transliterated Alaqa) is a honorific title used in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. It is used as the title of a chief priest, the head of a monastery, as well as being an honorific
An honorific is a titl ...
*Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles
Until the end of the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974, there were two categories of nobility in Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Mesafint ( gez, መሳፍንት , modern , singular መስፍን , modern , "prince"), the hereditary nobility, formed the upper ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ethiopian Ecclesiastical Titles
Ecclesiastical titles
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church