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Christmas is Recognizing Jesus and His Flesh in Vulnerable People: Catholic Missionary in Ethiopia

Credit: Agenzia Fides

Christmas celebrations in Ethiopia found members of the Villaregia Missionary Community working with vulnerable women and children in Ethiopian provinces, about eight hours from the community’s base in the Prefecture Apostolic of Robe.

According to Fr. Emanuele Ciccia, a member of the missionary community, closeness with the vulnerable is at the heart of Christmas which was celebrated in Ethiopia on January 7, and engaging in it is the society’s way of evangelization.

“When the Catholic world celebrated the birth of Jesus, we were in the East Bale Zone, around seven to eight hours from Robe, working with the Women and Children’s Office of some provinces in the East Bale Zone to raise awareness of traditional practices that are harmful to women, including female genital mutilation and early marriage,” Fr. Ciccia says in a Thursday, January 16 report by Agenzia Fides.

He adds, “This is evangelization for us! Whatever violates the dignity of the human person is for us a privileged space for the proclamation of the Gospel... and it concerns us!”

“This was Christmas for us,” the missionary says, and continues the celebration of the birth of Jesus is “to recognize the Lord Jesus and his flesh in the most vulnerable people.”

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In the report, Fr. Ciccia shared insights of how his missionary community celebrated Christmas in Ethiopia, and underlined the need for the Catholic community “to affirm the inviolable dignity of the human person in the action of evangelization.” 

 He underscored the importance of evangelization not only through sharing the Word of God but also by practicing it by caring for the most vulnerable members of society, such as women and children. 

Fr. Ciccia went on to explain how members of the Villaregia Missionary Community experienced Christmas in a way that aligns with Pope Francis's call “to touch the flesh of Christ.”

He also reflected on the differences in how the Orthodox and Catholic Churches celebrate the season in Ethiopia. 

“The Christmas season here in Ethiopia ends with the Feast of Timkat, the Ethiopian Orthodox Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which in the theology and ecclesial practice of the Orthodox Church has a much greater meaning than the feast of Christmas itself, unlike our Catholic tradition,” Fr. Ciccia said.

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“In the triad of feasts of the revelation of the Word of Christmas, Epiphany, and Baptism, the latter undoubtedly places more emphasis on divinity,” he said and added that for Catholics, however, the emphasis is “on the flesh of Christ”, hence the poverty and humility of the manger and the simplicity of the night of Bethlehem.