Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Addis Ababa (Agenzia Fides) - Yesterday, 12 September in Ethiopia marked the beginning of a new year and according to the Ethiopian calendar this is the year 2000. So Ethiopia's Orthodox Church is celebrating a Jubilee Year.
The event is having a great impact on the people and the government has organised a series of ceremonies and measures including an amnesty for thousands of prisoners, including a few hundred political Opposition members.
“When in a thousand years time, Ethiopians will celebrate the start of the 4th millennium, they will say that the beginning of the 3rd millennium marked to beginning of Ethiopia's renaissance ” Ethiopia's Premier Meles Zenawi said during a ceremony in the main square in the capital Addis Ababa where thousands had gathered to wait for midnight to celebrate the arrival of the year 2000 with singing and fireworks. Delegations from several other African countries were present for the celebrations.
The Ethiopian Church never adopted the reformed calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 to replace the old Julian calendar in use since 46 AD. The new year begins in September in keeping with the traditions of ancient Egypt, where the start of the new year coincides with the annual overflowing of the River Nile.
The local Catholic Church is also celebrating the year 2000 and all the Catholic Bishops of Ethiopia will take part in a special Mass in Addis Ababa Catholic Cathedral on Sunday 16 September. For the occasion a special Crucifix blessed by Pope Benedict XVI will be exposed for the veneration of the faithful. The Pope blessed the Crucifix in Loreto during a gathering of Italian Catholic youth (see Fides 3 September 2007).
“This millennium is a special opportunity to make Ethiopia known, not as a country of hunger and drought, but as a nation which is on a path to change and development” the Archbishop of Addis Ababa, Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Ethiopia, told Vatican Radio. “The Church has an important role in this process which aims to show a different Ethiopia; the Church wants the people to learn to look to the future with hope ” the Archbishop concluded. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 13/9/2007 righe 30 parole 376)
