Ethiopian Catholic Conversion Movement

Name: Ethiopian Catholic Conversion Movement
Start: 1615
End: 1625

Type Event Region Africa Time 1615–1625

In the 1610s, under the Portuguese–Ethiopian alliance, Jesuit missionaries penetrated the court;…

Timeline

1615–1617Ethiopian court · EthiopiaWith Portuguese military and diplomatic backing, Jesuits including Pedro Páez entered Susenyos's court, winning the emperor's trust through astronomy, crafts, and theological debate. Around 1617, discussions began within the court about accepting papal authority and adjusting liturgical rites.
1617–1622Provinces of the Ethiopian Highlands · EthiopiaAfter 1617, monks and local nobles upholding the Alexandrian Orthodox tradition openly opposed the Latinization reforms. Sectarian confrontation and the forced imposition of new rites laid the groundwork for the large-scale civil war of the 1620s and the emperor's abdication in 1632.

The Jesuit Mission to Ethiopia (16th–17th Centuries) https://www.britannica.com/place/Ethiopia/Challenge-to-the-church
Pedro Páez https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pedro-Paez