The origins of Christianity in Ethiopia are very old and date back to around 341.

In the 4th century, St. Frumentius, who is considered the founder of the Christian Church in Ethiopia, after having converted King Ezana, was ordained bishop by St. Athanasius of Alexandria.

At the end of the 5th century, the Nine Saints (Syrian monophysite monks) evangelised the country extensively and contributed to the translation of the Bible into Ethiopian.

In the 7th century, Islam isolates Ethiopia from the Copts.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Ethiopian Church refused the “Latinisation” proposed by the Jesuit missionaries.

In 1839, an Apostolic Prefecture of Abyssinia was established, headed by Bishop Justin de Jacobis. Playing the card of inculturation and at the price of a thousand trials, he installed an Ethiopian Catholic Church celebrating according to the Alexandrian rite in the Guez language.

In 1929, the Ethiopian Church began its independence from the Coptic Church.

In 1948, an agreement was reached that the archbishop should be Ethiopian and could ordain his own bishops. Currently, the head of the Ethiopian Catholic Church is H.E. Cardinal Berhaneyesus Souraphiel, who resides in Addis Ababa, with 900,000 faithful. The Catholic Church represents only 0.7% of the population. Also, the Archdiocese of Addis Ababa is one of the 4 Eastern dioceses of the country, beside which there are several vicariates of Latin tradition.

The country is now predominantly Orthodox (47%) with a strong influence of Protestant communities (15%). The Muslim religion is also growing (34%).