Black History and the Orthodox Church
A blond Jesus, often seen in media. Attn archives site.
Black history month is here which makes it an excellent moment to explore the known (because there are many unknown saints too) Black saints of our holy faith.
Beware the Blue-eyed Jesus
First, it is imperative that we remember that Jesus was not white, nor did He have blue eyes or blond hair. He was of Middle Eastern ancestry and therefore, more likely than not, had darker skin, dark eyes and dark hair. While it is a beautiful thing that the Christian faith was spread around the world, we must remember that it was also literally whitewashed: many icons and images of Jesus and His mother, the Theotokos, popped up around Europe with the whitest of skin and, over time, with the bluest of eyes! This was a tool used to demonstrate the superiority of white skin over ANY coloured skin. And this was wrong. This is not reflective of the Church’s beliefs that everyone is equal before God nor of the ethnic diversity of our Church.
Even though the Church has done a good job recognizing the POC of BIPOC (people of colour) saints (the Middle Eastern and North African Saints), we are here to talk about the Black saints of our faith - the B of BIPOC.
Icon of St. Moses the Black at New Skete Monasteries, Cambridge, New York. Photo by Jim Bean on Flickr.
Black Saints and African Saints
The truth is that it seems that there is only one recorded Black saint but we need to recognize that this does not make sense because the Christian faith has traveled over the entire globe. Which is why we must also emphasize recorded because we know that there are saints that the Church does not even know of, but still exist.
One online newspaper, Orthodox Times, has shared a list of African saints which while it includes the one Black saint, we know that not every citizen of Africa is Black, especially in Northern African because of its proximity to Europe. Many of the saints on this list, however, are Egyptian. Egyptians have historically been Black, which is logical with its proximity to Sudan (and from which arose 5 generations of Black pharaohs 700 years before Christ), but become displaced with the influx of Macedonian, Greek and Syrian migrations over the millenia. Thus it is likely that some of the Egyptian saints are also Black.
The Baptism of the Eunuch by Rembrandt in 1626. Museum Catharijneconvent, Netherlands. Public domain.
The two records of Black saints we have are the following:
St. Moses the Ethiopian (sometimes known as “Moses the Black” or “Moses the Moor/Murin” - Aug. 28
Baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch of Candace - Aug. 27 ((While not necessarily a saint, it is an important record)
Where Are The Others?
There is an article shared by an online Greek travel website which talks about icon frescoes recently restored in a small Greek village church that is full of Black saints. Unfortunately there are no records of the names of the saints.
Like we mention above, the Christian faith has traveled over the globe over the 2000 years so without a doubt there are more saints. The only two records mentioning Black saints are both of Ethiopian heritage which then begs the question - where are all the other Ethiopian saints?
The Ethiopian Church is believed to have been established either by the eunuch that was baptized or by Apostle Matthew himself, who was martyred while serving Divine Liturgy in Ethiopia in 65 A.D., which is to say, as old as the Church in Jerusalem, Rome and Antioch. While we have been not been in communion with the Ethiopian Church (along with the rest of the Oriental Orthodox Church) since the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D., leaving 400 years during which many saints may have existed.
In the last century, Orthodoxy has also been spreading throughout the continent of Africa with what seems like 500,000 Orthodox Christians throughout various African countries such as Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, South Africa and others.
African American Studies
With the gradual conversion of African Americans to Orthodoxy in the United States, a genuine interest has grown in studying the link between ancient African Christianity and the African American experience. The Fellowship of St. Moses the Black was started in 1993 in Planaltina, California, and has since organized the annual Ancient African Christianity and African America Conference for 30 years without stop. This is an extraordinary resource for all parishes to engage in racial reconciliation and to continue spreading the joy that is salvation through Christ.
A Global Orthodox Church
It is also a good opportunity to learn more about the Orthodox Churches around the world and to how many places the apostles traveled after the ascension of Christ. Here is a short summary.
There are traditionally five central Churches which were established, called a “see,” similar to “seat,” literally the throne of the bishop (or patriarch), which are now called patriarchates. They were established by various apostles and individuals.
Patriarchate of Antioch (relocated to Damascus, Syria) - Apostle Peter in 34 A.D.
Patriarchate of Alexandria (Egypt) - Apostle Mark in 42 A.D.
Patriarchate of Rome (Italy) - Apostles Paul and Peter, between 57 and 63 A.D.
Patriarchate of Constantinople (Byzantium, now Istanbul, Turkey) - Apostle Andrew in 38 A.D. (recognized only as such in 381 A.D.)
Patriarchate of Jerusalem (Israel) - James, the brother of Christ before 62 A.D. (recognized only as such in 451 A.D.)
However, in addition to these traditional Orthodox patriarchates, there are other early Churches with which we are not currently in communion with (the same way we are not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church) - namely the Oriental Orthodox Churches (splitting from the Christian Church during the 400s):
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (Ethiopia) - Philip of the 70 (not apostle), having baptized an Ethiopian on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza OR Apostle Matthew who was killed while serving Liturgy in Ethiopia in 65 A.D. (but officially around 330 A.D.)
Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church (Eritrea) - approx. 1993 after independence from Ethiopia
Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria (Egypt) - Apostle Mark in 42 A.D.
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (India) - Apostle Thomas in 52 A.D.
Armenian Apostolic Church (Armenia) - Apostles Bartholomew/Nathaniel and Thaddeus/Jude before 72 A.D.
Syriac Orthodox Church (Syria) - Apostle Peter in 34 A.D.