Ghébrē-Michael

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30 August (Vincentians)[1]

Ghébrē-Michael, CM (1791 - 30 July 1855) was a priest of the Eastern Rite Ethiopian Catholic Church and postulant from the Congregation of the Mission.[2][3][4][1]

Born in 1791, he became a

Ethiopian Orthodox Church - the new Abuna took an intense disliking of Ghébrē-Michael and set out to eliminate both him and his patron de Jacobis. After the accession of Tewodros II as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1855, Ghébrē-Michael was imprisoned, tortured for refusing to renounce Catholicism or the teachings of the Council of Chalcedon, and later died in prison due to ill treatment.[4][1]

Ghébrē-Michael was beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1926.

Life

Ghébrē-Michael was born in Ethiopia in Dibo in 1791.[4][3] He was part of one of the three Ethiopian religious sects called the Kevats. He was educated in Dibo then aged twelve began his high school studies in one of the monastic schools where he was known for his shrewd manner of learning.[1]

In his childhood he lost one eye in an accident that in his culture would have rendered him unfit for most forms of work. He received an education and then began his studies in one of the

monasteries where he became a gifted student. He became professed as a monk in 1813.[2][1] He had not prepared for ordination in the Coptic Orthodox Church and since monks did not become priests but he became fascinated instead with declining standards in monasteries and set out to find out what the causes were. His superiors helped facilitate his research and he was also allowed to travel across the nation visiting these monasteries and doing further research in their libraries. He also decided that these matters required further research and so decided to go to Jerusalem for additional studies.[2]

In order to do this he joined a small delegation of Orthodox faithful who attempted to go to

cardinal), detailed in a 19 August 1841 letter to the Archbishop of Dublin, Daniel Murray
.

Ghébrē-Michael first met de Jacobis during that pilgrimage in September 1843 and the bishop advised him to return home via a different route since de Jacobis believed that his research would cause him to make enemies. The delegation returned to the Red Sea port of Massawa and Ghébrē-Michael himself returned sometime later on his own as de Jacobis advised. The two would meet on a regular basis for the next six months and the two together visited monasteries before de Jacobis himself received him into the Catholic Church in February 1844; this led to six other Coptic monks asking for reception as well, after having seen his example.[2][4][3]

In 1850 he and de Jacobis were in conversation when the latter asked him if he desired becoming a priest. De Jacobis later

ordained him to the priesthood on 1 January 1851. The new Orthodox bishop in Ethiopia, meanwhile, instigated persecution of Catholicism and at one stage—when Ghébrē-Michael was set to enter the Congregation of the Mission as a postulant—he had him and de Jacobis arrested with four others. De Jacobis was kept hidden from the others while their captors hoped extreme isolation and torture would cause them to abandon Catholicism.[2][3] De Jacobis was later released and in late 1854 the Orthodox bishop failed through torture to get him and the others to apostatize. Tewodros II
was crowned as the king in 1855 and also sought to torture Ghébrē-Michael to get him to apostatize to no avail. To that end, the emperor kept him in chains and would have him brought with him whenever and wherever he travelled.

In May 1855 the British Consul visited the emperor and the latter decided to put Ghébrē-Michael on trial in the consul's presence. He refused to abandon his faith and the court deemed that he should be shot dead. But the consul asked for him to be spared and the emperor agreed, which left the priest back in chains and moved from place to place as the emperor traveled.[2][3][4]

He later died due to ill treatment on a road under a cedar tree.[5] His remains were never found.[1]

De Jacobis later explained in a letter to the Congregation's superior general Jean-Baptiste Etienne that Ghébrē-Michael could be considered a member in the order despite his having been a postulant; in his words, "he belonged in his heart and in his spirit to the congregation".[1][2]

Beatification

The informative phase in investigation into potential beatification opened and closed in

Congregation for Rites validated the previous processes on 11 December 1923. On 22 May 1926 Ghébrē-Michaels beatification received formal approval from Pope Pius XI who beatified him on 3 October.[4][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g James Cahalan, CM (17 April 2013). "Blessed Michael Ghebre: "The truth will make you free"". Vincentians. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Ghebre Michael". Famvin Vincentian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19 June 2018.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Beato Michele Ghebre". Santi e Beati. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Blessed Michael Ghebre". Saints SQPN. 10 October 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
  5. ^ Some sources suggest 14 July and others suggest 28 August as his date of death.

External links

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