Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia 16 August 2022 farag mikhail moussa (1892–1947) egypt’s consul to ethiopia (1929– 1934) Mary S. Ghattas and Saad Michael Saad Keywords: Ethiopia; Ethiopian Church; Autocephaly; Haile Selassie; Abuna; Eccage; Cyril V; John xix; Yusab II; Cyril VI; Patriarchs and Patriarchate; Wafd al-Misri; Coptic Community Council; Civil service; Egyptian Legation; World War II; Administration; Politics.
Born on 16 August 1892, Farag Mikhail Moussa was the youngest of ten children. His grandfather Moussa emigrated from Akhmim (570 km south of Cairo) around 1840 to the Qalioubia province in the Delta, where he founded the village of Kashish.
Education and Legal, Political, and Diplomatic Careers Farag Moussa studied at the Tawfikia Secondary School in Cairo. In 1915 he graduated from law school, then worked with the well-known Coptic lawyer Murqus Hanna (see wissa wassef). Eventually, Moussa opened his own law office and was a successful lawyer.
Like many of his generation, Farag Moussa was an ardent patriot who participated actively in the 1919 Nationalist Revolution. He led demonstrations in Qalioubia, speaking at rallies in mosques and churches under the Wafdist slogans “Religion for God, the Nation for All” and “Long Live the Crescent and the Cross.” In February 1922, Britain declared Egypt independent and promulgated a constitutional monarchy in 1923. Moussa was elected a member of the Majlis Milli (see coptic community council). However, he soon resigned from the council as his destiny was to take him outside Egypt.
Farag Moussa was sent with twelve other Egyptian university graduates on the first state scholarships to Europe granted after independence. By the end of 1923, he obtained a doctoral degree in international public law from the University of Leeds, England, in Figure 1. Dr. Farag Moussa in 1929, when he addition to a postgraduate diploma in public law from became Egyptian consul in Addis Ababa.
the University of Lyon, France. On his return to Egypt, Dr. Farag Moussa was appointed as a junior diplomat in the newly created Egyptian Legation in Washington, D.C. in January 1924. There he met and married Julia Maisac, an American, then executive secretary of the Washington School of Diplomacy.
© Claremont Graduate University 1 Mary S. Ghattas and S.M. Saad, Farag Mikhail Moussa (1892–1947) 16 August 2022 Diplomacy in Ethiopia (1929–1934) and Coptic–Ethiopian Church Relations After serving in Washington and Berlin, Farag Moussa was appointed consul to Addis Ababa and officially started his mission there on 21 February 1929. This was the first Egyptian diplomatic mission to Abyssinia (today known as Ethiopia), a step that was strongly supported by governments on both sides to elevate the common interests between Egypt and Abyssinia to the highest level possible (Elmasri 1985: 47).
Farag Moussa (Figure 1) spent five years in Ethiopia, and two of his three children were born there. He and his wife had developed a mutual relationship of trust and respect with the imperial couple. He and the emperor had a few shared characteristics: their age, barely a year of difference between them; the French language, in which they communicated with each other; and most importantly their faith—in God and in the Coptic Orthodox Church.
The relations between the Coptic and Ethiopian Churches in the 20th century, especially the road to ethiopian church autocephaly, are covered in numerous publications, including Abdelsayed 1994 and 2003, Elmasri 1985, Ghali 1991, Moussa 2018 and 2021, Tafla 1991b, and Tedeschi 1991. This entry focuses on the role of Farag Moussa in his time and capacity. When Moussa arrived in Addis Ababa, the future emperor, haile selassie I, was ruling as king while he awaited his coronation as emperor. He had a clear vision for modernizing his country, particularly in the educational, economic, and social spheres, and looked to Egypt as a “gateway” to Europe and modernity (Tafla 1991a). Moussa was able to support a number of the emperor’s plans because of the trust the latter placed in him. For example, the cultural exchanges between the two countries had been almost entirely limited to Egyptian instructors assigned to schools in Ethiopia. Thanks to Moussa, young Ethiopians were able to enroll in the many English and French schools in Alexandria and Cairo (Figure 2). Over his five years as a consul, he was able to sustain and develop the existing ties between Egypt and Ethiopia with diplomatic finesse, such as when he organized the official visit of the Ethiopian crown prince to Cairo in 1932 (Figure 3).
Egypt, for its own survival, had to maintain good political relations with Ethiopia: the majority of the Nile waters that flow into Egypt emanate from the Ethiopian highlands. But the religious links between the two countries were also of vital importance. Egypt was a Muslim country with a Coptic minority. Ethiopia, in contrast, was a Christian country with a Muslim minority. Yet for centuries the archbishop of Ethiopia was not only consecrated by the Coptic patriarch in Egypt but also chosen from among the Egyptian monks rather than the Ethiopian monks (Moussa 2018). The possibility of disruptive conflicts between the two churches materialized on several occasions over the centuries.
Moussa proved a unique asset for the Ethiopian Church; he was able to understand and respect that, for the emperor and Ethiopians, appointment of an Ethiopian archbishop was not only a hierarchical shift in itself, but also a cultural representation; e.g., liturgical services in Ge’ez are unique to the Ethiopian tradition and more numerous than the three anaphoras used in the Coptic Church. Religious feasts and festivities are celebrated in completely different ways in Ethiopia compared to Egypt. At the time, the Coptic Church did not readily appreciate the significance of such cultural differences in the desire for an Ethiopian archbishop.
Moussa’s diplomacy was able to make strides in driving the delicate conversation forward, ensuring that both Ethiopian ecclesial needs and Egyptian interests were met. At the time Moussa was appointed to Addis Ababa, the position of abune had been vacant for two years. On 9 January © Claremont Graduate University 2 Mary S. Ghattas and S.M. Saad, Farag Mikhail Moussa (1892–1947) 16 August 2022 1929, Consul Moussa and the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hafez Afifi, visited Pope Yoannis to express the Egyptian government’s desire that an abune be ordained for Ethiopia. During Moussa’s first four months in Ethiopia, negotiations in Cairo between representatives of the Egyptian and Ethiopian governments and of the two churches led to a compromise. An Egyptian abune, Abouna Qerelos, was soon ordained on 2 June 1929 by Pope Yoannis (see john xix, Synaxarion 1972). In addition, Pope Yoannis ordained four Ethiopian monks as diocesan bishops and one “bishop and Eccage.” The monks arrived in Cairo on 20 May 1929 for their ordination and were enthroned in their respective eparchies on 28 June 1929 (Moussa 2018: 91; Tedeschi 1991).
A papal envoy, Metropolitan Yusab of Jirja (who on 26 May 1946 became Pope yusab ii), Archbishop Qerelos, and the five Ethiopian bishops participated in the crowning of Emperor Haile Selassie on 3 November 1930, in the Cathedral of St. George in Addis Ababa (Moussa 2018: 96, Tafla 1991a).
Moussa’s professional engagement in this long-standing, historical question is reflected in the fact that Emperor Haile Selassie designated Moussa’s son, Farag, as Eccage Gabra Manfas’ godson in 1929,1 a few weeks after Farag’s birth. When Helene was born, the empress became her godmother (Moussa 2018: 83). These particular appointments, made at a time when difficult negotiations between the two churches were advancing, indicate that Moussa’s role as a discrete and trusted intermediary was far more important that one might imagine Moussa’s engagements in church affairs were highlighted by his growing friendship with Pope Yoannis; Moussa was involved in organizing the papal visit to Ethiopia in January 1930, and accompanied the pope throughout the visit, including the three-day train ride from the boat in Djibouti to Addis Ababa and back (Moussa 2018: 92; Elmasri 1985: 48–58). He also played a mediation role between Emperor Haile Selassie, who had ambitions for his church and country, and Archbishop Qerelos, whose experience was limited to monastic life and could only speak with the emperor through an interpreter. The archbishop was not always in agreement with the progressive ideas of the emperor (Moussa 2018: 92–93).
The summer of 1934, Moussa left Ethiopia honored with two esteemed decorations—Grand Officer, Order of the Star of Ethiopia and Commander, Order of Emperor Menelik II—proof of the emperor’s highest regard for him (Moussa 2018: Centerfold, 101).
Moussa was appointed to Rome, and the following summer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Cairo (Moussa 2018: 126). In October 1935, Mussolini’s army invaded Ethiopia and in May 1936 entered Addis Ababa. The emperor, who had led his army's resistance, eventually took refuge in England. The Italian occupiers offered an opening to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church by according her independence. They also named an Ethiopian archbishop to replace Archbishop Qerelos—who at this time was in “exile” in Cairo—and appointed Ethiopian bishops. The Coptic Church responded immediately by excommunicating the Ethiopian clergy named by the Italians (Moussa 2018: 180; Ghali 1991; Tedeschi 1991).
Back to Egypt: Jurist Career (1939–1947) and Coptic–Ethiopian Negotiations In 1936, under the Wafd government of Mustafa El Nahas Pasha, Farag Moussa had been elevated to the rank of “Bey” (Moussa 2018: 140). His diplomatic career ended in the summer of 1939, just before the Second World War, when a new law was passed, applying retroactively, that Egyptian diplomats could not be married to a foreigner. So Farag Moussa returned to Egypt to once again © Claremont Graduate University 3 Mary S. Ghattas and S.M. Saad, Farag Mikhail Moussa (1892–1947) 16 August 2022 start a new career, this time as a jurist in what is known today as the State Council. Meanwhile, from 1942 until his untimely death, he was involved on several occasions in the negotiations between the two Orthodox Churches of Egypt and Ethiopia, acting as a mediator to maintain good relations between the two countries and churches (Moussa 2018: 178).
In May 1941 the emperor and his army entered Addis Ababa in the wake of British troops. Soon after, he personally wrote to the Coptic patriarch in Egypt inviting him to send a delegation with the objective of resuming a relationship between the two churches. Farag Moussa, with his extensive knowledge of Ethiopia, was named a member of this delegation. It was agreed that Archbishop Qerelos would be included in this visit with the purpose of re-installing him as the archbishop of Addis Ababa. The three Egyptian delegates, Sadek Wahba, Farag Moussa, and Mirrit Ghali, remained in the Ethiopian capital for two weeks in June 1942 (Moussa 2018: 178– 181, Moussa 2021: 196–199, Elmasri 1985: 211, Synaxarion 1972: 246).
The emperor’s wishes were clearly stated: an autonomous Ethiopian Orthodox Church that would continue to maintain links with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt; that the archbishop should be Ethiopian with authority to consecrate Ethiopian bishops; and forgiveness to the excommunicated clergy associated with the Italian invaders.
The Coptic delegation had hardly returned to Cairo from Ethiopia when Pope Yoannis died on 21 June 1942. Because of the divisions surrounding the election and authority of his successor, Pope macarius iii (1944–1945), three years elapsed without any results. On 21 May 1945, the Coptic Synod decided to reject the Ethiopian demands (Elmasri 1985: 172). Macarius died on 31 August 1945. Tensions had become so great that Moussa feared a serious clash between the two states would occur. He decided on his own that it was necessary to immediately take his concerns to the highest level of the government. On 3 February 1946, Nokrashy Pasha, the prime minister, received Moussa, accompanied by the head of a new Ethiopian negotiating team—a minister dispatched by the emperor. Moussa requested that the Egyptian government become involved in this dilemma without delay (Moussa 2018: 193). Convinced, Nokrashy Pasha took action on the spot. He sent a telegram to the Egyptian archbishop in Ethiopia, Anba Qerelos, requesting him to return to Egypt for consultation. He also decided to take the lead in the negotiations.2 A compromise was rapidly reached on the first concern: Anba Qerelos would not return to Addis Ababa due to ill health. He would be temporarily replaced by an Ethiopian bishop. However, on 15 February the government of Nokrashy Pasha resigned, leaving the remaining church structure questions unanswered.
Because Moussa had political differences with the new prime minister, Ismail Sidky Pasha, he withdrew from the stalled negotiations.
On 17 April 1947, at the age of 54, Moussa succumbed to a heart attack, leaving a widow and three teenaged children—Michel, Farag, and Helene. He would certainly have welcomed the later agreements and their execution—in particular, ordaining the first Ethiopian archbishop in 1951, the 1959 agreement that elevated the archbishop to patriarch catholicos, the 1971 ordination of the first patriarch of Addis Ababa, and finally the 1994 agreement that formally blessed the independence of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church while maintaining her historic ties to the Egyptian mother church (Ghali 1991).
© Claremont Graduate University 4 Mary S. Ghattas and S.M. Saad, Farag Mikhail Moussa (1892–1947) 16 August 2022 Figure 2. Addis Ababa, 1930. Dr. Farag Moussa is seated in middle, with the minister of education on his right, surrounded by Egyptian teachers and sixty Ethiopian students who were to go to secondary (French and English) schools in Alexandria and Cairo in 1930.
Figure 3. In front of the Egyptian Consulate in Addis Ababa, 1932, on the occasion of the official visit to Egypt by the Crown Prince of Abyssinia Asfa Wossen (front center), the presidents of the two chambers of the parliament, the foreign minister, and the governor of Addis Ababa (second row). Dr. Farag Moussa is at the side of the prince.
© Claremont Graduate University 5 Mary S. Ghattas and S.M. Saad, Farag Mikhail Moussa (1892–1947) 16 August 2022