Catholic Church in Ethiopia

While separated by their understanding of the primacy of the Bishop of Rome and their Christology, the Ethiopian Catholic and Orthodox Churches have basically the same sacraments and liturgy.

However, the conversion of rulers Za Dengel and Susenyos to Catholicism in the early 17th century led to uprisings.

[2] Due to the behaviour of the Portuguese Jesuit Afonso Mendes, whom Pope Urban VIII appointed as Patriarch of Ethiopia in 1622, Emperor Fasilides expelled the Patriarch and the European missionaries under penalty of death,[2] who included Jerónimo Lobo, from the country in 1636; these contacts, which had seemed destined for success under the previous Emperor led, instead, to the complete closure of Ethiopia to further contact with Rome.

Justin de Jacobis, and subsequently Cardinal Guglielmo Massaia, resumed Catholic missionary activities.

The Catholic communities currently found in Ethiopia are mostly the fruit of the vigorous work of the above-mentioned missionaries, de Jacobis, and Cardinal Massaja.