Afonso Mendes Arrives: Catholic Mission to Ethiopia
Afonso Mendes, a Portuguese Jesuit appointed Latin Patriarch of Ethiopia by Pope Gregory XV, arrived at the port of Beilul on the Red Sea coast on May 2, 1625, after sailing from Portuguese Goa. His mission was to bring the Ethiopian Orthodox Church into communion with Rome. Emperor Susenyos had converted to Catholicism in 1622, but Mendes' aggressive insistence on replacing Ethiopian liturgical traditions with Roman Catholic rites provoked widespread rebellion. Ethiopian Christians refused to adopt the Roman calendar, the Western baptismal formula, or Eucharistic practices that contradicted centuries of tradition. The resulting civil unrest and bloodshed forced Susenyos to abdicate in 1632. His successor Fasilides expelled all Jesuits from Ethiopia, ending Catholic influence for over two centuries.
May 2, 1625
401 years ago
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