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Christianity In Ethiopia
The backbone of Haile Selassie's
power is the Ethiopian Orthodox - or
Coptic- Church. It represents 40 per–
cent of the population. The remainder
of the people are mainJy Moslems.
Orthodox Christianity carne to Abyssinia
- the ancient name of the country -
in the 4th century, making it the only
hístorically Christian country in Africa.
The power of the Church is still great.
lt
owns one third of all the land, and.
much of its holdings are prime real
estate. But, there are problems ahead
for the Coptic Church.
A religious civil war has been goiog
on for months in Eritrea, where the Eri–
trean Liberation Front, consisting of
Moslem insurgents, has been fighting
the government. The aim of the Front,
which has received aid from the Arabs,
Red China, Syria, Iraq, Eastern Europe
and Russia, is to unite the
M01/em re–
gions
with neighboring Sudan aod other
Moslem lands.
The Emperor has an obsession about
the encroachment of Moslem countries
- the Sudan to the West, Somalia to
the East and Southeast and a host of
Arab countries to the north. In fact, the
typical comment is: "We are an island,
encircled by hostile Arab states, just like
Israel."
It
wasn't long ago that the
So–
mali Republic and Ethiopia were
engaged in a war with each other in the
bleak Ogaden area of southeast Ethi–
opia. Now a new, radical pro-Arab
Somali government is again causing
concern in Addis Ababa.
A strong pro-Arab government is
also in power in the Sudan. This gov–
ernment incidentally is engaged in a bit–
ter civil war against animistic Christian
dissident black rebels in its southern
provinces.
This development, together with the
fact that Israel has military advisers in
Ethiopia, makes observers feel that in
another Israeli-Arab war, Ethiopia could
be involved
oc
attacked. Such a fear of
the Arab Moslem bloc could drive
Ethiopia more and more into the opeo
arms of Christian Europe - perhaps
even to Italy.
}(oystone
Photo
EMPEROR MEETS POPE
-
Emperor Haile Selassie during his visit with
Pope Paul at the Vatican late last year.
What the Future Holds
How would the Catholic Church
view such an increasingly closer friend–
ship? Undoubtedly, it would be viewed
with considerable favor. Such a move
would fit in with the plan of bringing
all Christians into the fold of Rome.
It would also provide an excellent base
for missionary work in Africa.
In Jine with the warm receptíon put
out by the Italian government for the
Emperor on bis 1970 visit, Pope Paul
defined Selassie as a "noble and good
sir."
The Emperor expressed how much he
welcomes Italians to Ethiopia by saying
to President Saragat: "Today thousands
of Italians live happily and in tranquil–
ity in our country. Many of them con–
sider Ethiopia their second fatherland."
"With no nation in the world has
Ethiopia sentimental relations, and even
economic, so dose as with us," says
Epoca
(
an Italian magazine) Nov.
1:;,
1970.
Since then relations have further
improved. Even closer economic and
political cooperation between the two
nations is virtually assured. O