Talk:Abuna

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Status of the head of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church was Catholicos. The definition Catholicos should note that a Catholicos was reporting to the Patriarch. He has no power to ordain Bishops. It is higher in the hierarchy than Metropolitan bishop. --Connection 13:28, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

From my research, it appears that for most of the surviving history of the Ethiopian Church, he was only a bishop; not until the Patriarch of Alexandria granted autonomy to the Ethiopian Church (this was around 1950) was the status of the Abuna elevated to something more -- a Patriarch. This is such an unusual situation in Christian that I am not entirely convinced I understand it -- thus I used the term "metropolitan" in writing this article. -- llywrch 21:49, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

Strange. This little article will generate a lenghty discussion, evolving around Copto-Ethiopian relations. I agree with you in "not entirely convinced I understand it". We will need more research and analysis. Here are some points. --Connection 00:00, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

• In recent coptic history accounts (ie, of the 2nd half of 20th century, and of course written in Arabic), refers to the head of the Ethiopian church as Catholicos. This title may reflect the position specifically at a certain time, as the writer wouldn't stop at these technicalities.
• In the traditions of the early Christian Church (pre-Nicean and somewhat later), most of church administation policies were clearcut and "universal", thanks to the stability offered by the Roman Empire. That is your speciality llywrch. The position of Bishop was "mapped" to a city (pardon the computerese). A Metropolitan was assigned to a metropolitan city. Archbishop and Patriarch positions are later constructs, yet we will deal with them. Historically, Pope is the title for the Archbishop of the city of Rome. Patriarch is enjoyed by other Archbishops. It is only a matter of the size of the city. Later, a matter of geopolitics. Getting to the point, whether the position is a Bishop, Metropolitan, or Catholicos, the incumbent is not entitled to ordain a Bishop. That was problematic, in our context, since it required constant intervention of the Patriarch of Alexandria, all the more in a turbulant setting. The title of Catholicos should make more sense since the Patriarch of Alexandria was always ordaining a number of Bishops to serve under the authority of the Catholicos (or whatever title you want to use).
• The prominent work of Sven Rubenson, Acta Aethiopica (several Volumes) reproduces copiously many historic correspondences. I am unable to reach it deep-down my stacked library. Checking a similar source will shed more light.

Etymology. Abuna is Arabic (أبونا) for "our father". The term is still used today in Arab speaking Christian congregations to address a Priest (Abuna name). (I will wait before editing the Article. Better the original editor of this page to do so). --Connection 13:28, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

I assumed that since the language of the Ethiopian Church is Ge'ez, "Abuna" would he Ge'ez. In any case, it means the same thing. -- llywrch 21:49, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

Abuna is could be Ge'ez (that's what I always though). Ab is father, though abu might have been used at some point in time. It's aboor abbo in Tigrinya and abbat in Amharic, and the Semitic database I'm looking at says it's ab- in Arabic, too, so the u is probably just from some sort of case ending. Na as an ending for our exists both in Ge'ez and Arabic, so that doesn't help us any. It probably means the same thing in the two languages (i.e. there's absolutely no difference, as opposed to cases where just one vowel is different), but seeing as Ge'ez was the dominant language (supposedly) at the time, and Arabic was relatively unknown in Egypt until the 7th and 8th centuries and minimally in Ethiopia, it's probably derived from Ge'ez.

Yom 07:13, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

Thank you Yom. Yes, "It probably means the same thing in the two languages". Yet I wanted to point to the fact that this title for the head of the Ethiopian Church was not, and is not, known as such in Egypt. BTW, I am curious how a Priest is inforamlly addressed then in Ethiopia? Further, we still like to know if this title was due to an Ethiopian or Egyption tradition. --Connection 00:00, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

Checking out the article in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, it is indeed from Ge'ez, and not Arabic. It was used for the head of the Church (P'app'as - the Coptic head), but could also be used for other high-level ecclesiastics. The second in command (with effectively more power because of his knowledge of Ethiopia) was the Ich'egé, always the abbot of Debre Libanos in Shewa (appointed by the Emperor). Regular priests can be addressed as Abba (father) and the like (e.g. Amharic abbat, "father," or abbaté, my father). — ዮም | (Yom) | Talk • contribs • Ethiopia 22:54, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

After reading that last comment, I fished out a reproduction of an Ethiopian icon of Ephrem the Syrian I have. It's not very easy to read, but it looks like it reads 'Abana Ephrem'. Is that about right for Ge'ez? — Gareth Hughes 23:29, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Hmm..the second "a" should be a "u." Was it completely intact? The usual title for Ephrem the Syrian is ማር:ኤፍሬም:ሶርያዊ Mār 'Ēfrēm Sōryāwī, "Mar Ephrem the Syrian." Was the title written አባነ, and could you provide a link to the image? By the way, was the Ge'ez for "Abana" አቡነ (ābūna in Ge'ez but ābūne in Modern Ethiopian Semitic langauges, excluding a few that preserve vowel length like Harari and Tigre) or አቡና (ābūnā, incorrect spelling)? It could have used the title Abuna, nevertheless, however, as it wasn't strictly limited to the head of the Church, but could also be used for other high ranking figures. A possible alternative might by the use of ቅዱስ qiddūs "Holy" or "Saint." — ዮም | (Yom) | Talk • contribs • Ethiopia 23:38, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

That's useful. I'm finding it difficult to read, but it looks like አቡነ ኤፍርየም (Äbunä Efrəyäm). The distinguishing mark on the Bet was too small for me to see first of all, but on closer inspection it is a ቡ. However, I notice that the spelling of 'Ephrem' is quite different: I definitely have five letters. — Gareth Hughes 13:52, 18 August 2006 (UTC)