UNESCO-Endorsed Syncretism Masquerading as Christian Worship in Ethiopia and Eritrea
The “Vatican News” portal (January 23, 2026) reports on Timkat celebrations in Ethiopia and Eritrea, describing processions where “priests lead their churches” carrying “the Tabot—replicas of the Tablets of the Law” wrapped in cloth, with worshippers immersing themselves in blessed water to “renew their baptism.” The article celebrates UNESCO’s 2019 designation of Timkat as Intangible Cultural Heritage, presenting it as evidence of “an age-old Christian tradition that is still very much alive.” This portrayal constitutes a dangerous normalization of syncretic practices incompatible with Catholic orthodoxy.
Pagan Veneration of Material Objects
The central ritual of carrying concealed “replicas of the Tablets of the Law” violates the First Commandment’s prohibition against idolatry. The Council of Trent decreed: “If anyone says that the worship of images is an abuse… let him be anathema” (Session 25), specifying that veneration belongs solely to God, not material objects. The Ethiopian practice of hiding these tablets under cloths suggests a superstitious belief in their intrinsic power, akin to pagan fetishism rather than Christian sacramentality. Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors condemns as heresy the notion that “the Christian religion is nothing more than a species of the various forms of false worship” (Proposition 16).
Sacramental Invalidity and Ritualistic Magic
The claim that worshippers “fully immerse themselves in it to renew their baptism” constitutes blasphemy against the sacrament’s indelible character. The Council of Florence’s Exultate Deo (1439) dogmatically declares: “Baptism imprints a character on the soul… neither can this sacrament be reiterated.” This ritual immersion reduces baptism to a magical repetition, denying its sacramental nature. The absence of any mention of the Trinitarian formula (“I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”) further invalidates any pretense of sacramental validity.
Timkat has been classified as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2019
This endorsement by a secular body exposes the celebration’s true nature as cultural performance rather than divine worship. Pius XI’s Quas Primas (1925) establishes that “the entire human race is subject to the authority of Jesus Christ,” condemning the subordination of religious practices to human institutions. The UNESCO recognition constitutes formal cooperation with the “cult of man” condemned in St. Pius X’s Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907).
Omissions Reveal Apostate Mentality
The article’s silence on three critical matters exposes its modernist foundation:
- No mention of Christ’s exclusive mediatorship: The rituals imply salvation through cultural practices rather than incorporation into the Mystical Body through valid sacraments. Pius XII’s Mystici Corporis (1943) declares: “Only those are to be included as members of the Church who have been baptized and profess the true faith.”
- No warning against superstition: The concealed tablets and ritual baths constitute “abominable superstitions” condemned by Leo XIII’s Humanum Genus (1884).
- No call for conversion: The article celebrates paganized rituals while omitting the Church’s divine mandate to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).
Paramasonic Infiltration of Worship
The description of “priests dressed in colorful garments” leading processions mirrors Masonic ceremonial pageantry condemned by Leo XIII: “They pretend to have a great desire for union between Church and State, between the priesthood and the empire, but their behavior shows that they want the State and the empire without the Church and the priesthood” (Humanum Genus 25). The UNESCO designation completes this diabolical inversion, making human cultural approval the measure of religious value rather than divine truth.
As the Ethiopian and Eritrean hierarchies remain in communion with the “structures occupying the Vatican” since 1958, their tolerance of these practices confirms their apostasy. True Catholics must reject this syncretic paganism masquerading as Christianity and pray for the conversion of all nations to the one true faith outside which there is no salvation (Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus).
Source:
News from the Orient – January 23, 2026 (vaticannews.va)
Date: 23.01.2026