Eastern Rite - Eritrean Catholic Church

Today is the Feast of the Holy Martyrs Speusippus, Eleusippus and Melapsippus, Cappadocian triplets, and their grandmother Leonilla, and with them Neon, Turbo, and Jonilla ( Jovilla), in Cappadocia

✠✠✠✠✠

The Eritrean Catholic Church (Latin: Ecclesia Catholica Erythraea; Tigrinya: ኤርትራዊት ቤተ ክርስቲያን, romanized: Chiesa Eritrea) is a metropolitan sui iuris Eastern particular church headquartered in Asmara, Eritrea. It was established in 2015 by separation of its territory from that of the Ethiopian Catholic Church and the setting up in that territory of a new sui iuris metropolitan Eastern Catholic Church. It follows the Ge'ez form of the Alexandrian liturgical rite. Its official name, strictly-speaking, is "The Asmara metropolitan sui iuris Church".

Like the other Eastern Catholic Churches, the Eritrean Catholic Church is in full communion with the Holy See. It holds to the Christological definition taught at the Council of Chalcedon and accepts the universal jurisdiction of the Pope. These points distinguish it from the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which is an Oriental Orthodox church comprising most Christians in the country. Like the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Catholic Church follows the Ethiopic liturgical rite in the Ge'ez language, a Semitic language which fell out of common use several centuries ago. This rite is based on the Coptic Church liturgy.

There are four Eparchies, including the Metropolitan See, with five Bishops, 107 Parishes with a total of 498 Priests (103 Eparchial, 395 Religious), and 160,000+ Catholics.