Faith

One of the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia: Saint George. Photo courtesy/Daria Braithwaite/Pontifical Mission Societies of Boston

Propagation of the Faith

The Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela

Friday, August 29, 2025Faith

Ethiopia was one of the earliest nations to adopt Christianity in the first half of the fourth century. Today, the country is over 67 percent Christian, embracing Ethiopian Orthodox, Pentecostal Christians of various sects, and Roman Catholics. Catholics are a minority, making up less than 1 percent of the population. Only Addis Ababa, the capital city, is an Archdiocese. The rest of the designated Catholic territories are Vicariates -- not large enough in Catholic population to be full dioceses. All these jurisdictions fall under the direction and guidance of the Dicastery of Evangelization at the Vatican and depend on The Pontifical Mission Societies for regular support.
Called "The Land of Origins," Ethiopia is home to many antiquities; none are more famous than the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela. There are eleven buildings in all. Created under the direction of King Lalibela in the 11th and 12th centuries, the roofs of these churches are found at ground level! The buildings are constructed in an unusual way, even by medieval standards. They were carved from rock in the ground as monolithic blocks. Then they were further chiseled to form doors, windows, columns, altars, and every other kind of decoration you can imagine a church holds. Basically, they started digging and carved away anything that wasn't a church in the architect's eye!
Sometimes referred to as "The Eighth Wonder of the World," the churches have been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1978.
The king who commissioned the churches originally intended these wonders to be representative of a "New Jerusalem" -- a place of pilgrimage for Christians who could not get to the Holy Land. Thus, everything in the surrounding area - rivers, mountains, and the churches themselves -- take their names from biblical sites.
At all entrances, we were asked to remove our shoes as we walked on holy ground. Priests were on hand to show us relics of a time long past -- processional crosses, ceremonial plates, and even a crown thought to have belonged to King Lalibela himself.
The most impressive of the eleven churches, to me, was Saint George. Standing three stories tall with a huge, chiseled cross on its top, the roof is slightly slanted with stone gutters cut for drainage. The faÇade is intricately carved around the windows and at floor levels, reflecting an artist's care.
Though regulars at other, more local parishes, the faithful still come to worship on solemnities, especially Christmas when over 50,000 pilgrims gather from great distances.
When we visited, the walls of the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela echoed with centuries of holy silence, their grandeur a constant call to prayer.

- Maureen Crowley Heil is Director of Programs and Development for the Pontifical Mission Societies, Boston.