A number of the youth group members were born and/or raised outside of Eritrea and so we have an adequate understanding of the Latin Catholic history but do no have a full understanding of the Ge’ez Catholic history. Thus, when we attend the Ge’ez Catholic Mass many of us witness a number of differences. In order to account for these differences we asked our priest Father Vittorio Boria to give us a brief history of Ge’ez Catholicism in Eritrea and the differences from the Latin church. The following is a summary of his presentation.

The Entrance of Christianity

Christianity, especially the Ge’ez rite has been part of Eritrea’s history for centuries. Eritrea was colonized by Italy in 1896; but in order to get an accurate history of the founding of Catholicism we need to look further back and in a broader prospective widening it to the present Ethiopia. There are two main stories that describe the entrance of Christianity into Ethiopia. The first version is found in the Acts of the Apostles (chapter 8). In this story an angel calls on Philip to go south and visit an Ethiopian official who is reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. Philip was able to explain the passage of Isaiah and the Good News to the official. As they traveled, during their journey they came along a stream of water and Phillip baptized the Ethiopian official at the latter request.

This first story is based on biblical texts, we do not have any external proof of what happened to the official and whether he passed the new discovered faith to the others in his country. this raises questions like "what is meant by Ethiopia in the Bible?" The second account of Christianity comes from the history books. In the fourth century, two individuals named Frumentius and Eudoxius came from Egypt and successfully converted King Ezana of Ethiopia from paganism to Christianity. Later Frumentius was consacrated bishop and sent back to Ethiopia by the Patriarch of Alexandria in Egypt. For many centuries, the link between Ethiopia and Egypt remained strong. To the present time, The See of St. Mark in Alexandria of Egypt is still considered the Mother Church of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Tewhado autocephalous Churches. The two above stories despite their divergence prove that Christianity into modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea goes back to the third or fourth century at the latest. If we are to accept the story of the Acts of the Apostles then Christianity was introduced in ancient Ethiopia even before Alexandria, Rome, Athens, i.e. we would be among the first part of the world to accept Christianity outside Israel.

Liturgy and its theological background, the ecclesial culture and the traditions in the Geez rite, except for the Ethiopic language, are strongly affected by the influence of the Egyptian missionaries. This explains the great difference between the Geez and the Latin approach to worship.

The Unique Ge’ez Mass

Many of the youth in our community who attend Mass in the Latin rite have clearly seen differences when comparing it to the Ge’ez Mass. Many of these differences exist because of the more emphasis on symbolism found in the Ge’ez Mass. For instance, in the Ge’ez church the vestments of priests are distinctive; representing the kingly dignity of Jesus. A second major difference found in the Ge’ez mass vis á vis other Catholic rites is the length of mass. Often times many youth members, or individuals who are new to the Ge’ez rite remark on the long nature of mass. There are two main reason for the extended nature of mass. First, the constant repetition. We repeat certain aspects of the mass several times in order to ensure that we truly believe, understand and emotionally feel what we are saying (e.g. the "Egzi'o meHarenne Cristos" repeated 41 times, the tens and tens times of "tens'u letselot" with the concatenated verses by the assembly and the priest, the two absolution prayers, two washing of the hands, the four readings at every mass, etc.) Second, a long section of "praise and worship" section appears in the Ge’ez mass but is not prevalent in the Latin rite.

A further difference which many of our youth members have questioned is the different calendar followed by the Ge‘ez rite. First, the New Year is celebrated on September 11 and not on January 1st . The reason for the unique start of the new year takes us back to Egypt. It is around September that the Nile river rises and thus ushers in a new year. Similarly the roman calendar initially started the New Year in March, rather than in January (e.g. September, October, November, December were respectively the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th month). Even today, other national calendars (the indians, chinese, japanese, etc.) start at different dates, and some (e.g. the Arab calendar) even at a variable date!!! Secondly, the Ge’ez rite uses the Julian and not the Gregorian calendar. Under the guidance of Pope Gregory VII the Julian calendar was pushed ahead 15 days in order to count for miscalculations. The Ge’ez rite did not accept the correction and thus it celebrates Christmas two weeks later, in January. Likewise most fixed date feasts (like the Baptism of the Lord, the Exaltation of the Cross, the starting dates of the four season) happen approximately two weeks later than in the Gregorian calendar.

Final Thoughts

The presentation conducted by Fr. Vittorio Boria was truly an insightful discussion. The youth members were able to learn about the differences between the Ge’ez and Latin rites and get answers to some long awaited questions. These answers will inevitably aid us in strengthening our Ge’ez rite practice.