To Claudius, Negus of Ethiopia: Rome, February 23, 1555 (Letter 5205: VIII:460-67; in Spanish)

Abstract

This is another letter on the famous expedition to Ethiopia, one of the missions most enthusiastically accepted from the Pope by St. Ignatius. Basically, it was to reconcile the Monophysite church of Ethiopia to the church of Rome. A group of Jesuits was sent, headed by the papally appointed patriarch, Andres de Oviedo. In the following letter, Ignatius presents them to the negus, Claudius, and encourages him to full union with the pope. He expounds to Claudius the highly centralized and monarchical Roman ecclesiology of the day.