Coptic Quarrel

Emperor Haile Selassie rocked the Coptic Christian Church to its 1800-year-old foundations. To Cairo and the Coptic pope, Patriarch Markarius III, the gentle Negus sent a rough message: the next Abuna, or archbishop, of Ethiopia must be an Ethiopian, not an Egyptian.

Ever since St. Athanasius consecrated Frumentius as the first Bishop of Ethiopia (340 A.D.), Egyptians have held top place in Ethiopia's hierarchy. The present Abuna is bearded, scholarly Cyril, who came from Cairo's St. Anthony Monastery. He crowned Haile Selassie in 1928, has spiritual rule over 4,000,000 Ethiopian Copts. At royal worship in Addis Ababa's octagonal Cathedral of St. George, the Emperor kisses the Egyptian's silk-draped silver cross. But the Abuna continually vexes the King of Kings and the proud Ethiopian court: he offends the country's growing nationalism. Ethiopians complain that he will not learn the Ethiopian dialects, makes no effort to understand the Ethiopian way of life.

Centuries ago the Roman Catholic Church branded the Copts as heretics, notably because they believed that Christ's "divinity was not separated from His manhood for one moment or for the twinkling of an eye." Islam diminished but never drowned the Coptic influence. In the 17th Century, Jesuits failed to win the Ethiopian Copts to the Roman Catholic fold. Now the Egyptian Copts fear that if Haile Selassie's demand is denied, he may align the Ethiopian Copts with a rival body--perhaps the Greek Orthodox Church.

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