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BLESSED GHEBRE MICHAEL
(= Servant of St. Michael)
Ghebremichael was born in Dibo (western Ethiopia) in 1791. He was a professed monk in the monastery Church of Mertulemariam. He took up theological studies in the celebrated places of learning and theological culture specializing in Patristic theology.
Abba Ghebremichael followed two objectives in his life.
1. To see and deeply analyse the theological positions and factions in the Orthodox Church
2. To follow the ideal of sanctity by embracing a strict monastic asceticism and practice.
He shared the prejudices against the Catholic Church, well-rooted in the spirit, doctrine and structure of his Church. Thus he did not see the need of the unity of the Church.
God’s providence led to the meeting of Abba Ghebremichael with St. Justin de Jacobis a Catholic missionary of St. Vincent. They were on their way to Egypt to ask the Alexandrian Patriarch for a Bishop (Abuna) for the Abyssinian Church. An influential warlord selected a group of monks, ecclesiastics and influential people, as a delegation to go to Cairo to ask for the “Abuna”. Abba Ghebremichael was a member of the group. St. Justin de Jacobis was invited by the warlord to join the delegation. St. Justin accepted on condition that he lead the members of the delegation for a pilgrimage in Rome, which was accepted.
This journey and the encounter with Pope Gregory XVI were very impressive, and brought great emotion and spiritual joy to Abba Ghebremichael. From Rome the group went to Naples, then to Jerusalem and finally back home. Abba Ghebremichael spent the next three years in the midst of doubts, studies, prayers, fasts, theological debates, and consultations with monks of high reputation and sanctity of life. Finally, in 1843 in the hands of St. Justin de Jacobis Abba Ghebremichael was received to the Catholic Church, and a member of the small community of St. Justin. After six years, in 1851, he was ordained to the priesthood and became a member of the Congregation of the Mission. He was immediately engaged in leading his co-nationals towards the Catholic Church. His zeal, his saintly life, his balanced doctrine and education were key instruments in overpowering the prejudices against the Catholic Church. His influence attracted a significant number of recruits from monastic circles who became the foundation of the future Catholic Clergy.
The charisma of Abba Ghebremichael was so important that the Coptic Bishop and the Emperor persecuted Abba Ghebremichael. With the instigation of the Bishop, Emperor Theodore imprisoned the monks and priests who became Catholic. They were beaten and tortured so they would renounce the Catholic faith. They embarrassed the bishop and the emperor by their strength and perseverance. Abba Ghebremichael suffered almost a year in prison, during which he impressed the people around him. But for fear of persecution they didn’t fully join the Catholic Church. In 1855 Abba Ghebremichael was taken to be interrogated directly by the Emperor, who proposed that Abba return back to the faith of the Coptic Church. This was followed by a severe flagellation. A month later the Emperor again interrogated Abba Ghebremichael in the presence of the British Ambassador. The emperor condemned him to death by shooting. The appeal of the British Ambassador and other dignitaries changed the decision to perpetual prison with iron-bars. Carrying these iron-bars Abba Ghebremichael was to follow wherever the emperor camped. His hands and feet were swollen due to the iron bars. In August 28, 1855 somewhere in Cerecca-Ghebaba (Ethiopia) he died a martyr, a crown of the newly established Catholic Church. The place in which he was buried has been difficult to be identified. He was beatified 31 October 1926. Blessed Ghebremichael has been the glory of the Catholic mission guided by St. Justin De Jacobis. His martyrdom and the confession of many other priests and men and women from the laity show the success and maturity of the faith. From a theological, ecumenical and spiritual point of view Blessed Ghebremichael’s union with the Catholic faith has been significant.
Bibliography
1. Jean Coulbeaux – Vers la lumiere le B. Ghebremichael, Paris 1926
2. Ernesto Cassinari, Il Beato Ghebremichael, Roma 1926
3. Enrico Locattello. Venti due anni in Etiopia, Roma 1939
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