Wangelium nagaa kan G.-K. Jesus-Kristos Qedus Mateos aka kitabe Abunni Jakobi, Episkopos Adramittaf Vikarios Apostolikos bia Oromo, Afan Oromo aka hike [The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Matthew; transl. into Oromo by Bishop Jakobus (i.e. Cahagne), Apostolic Vicar of the Oromo]. 2nd edition. Carcassonne (France): Bonnafous, 1900.
Source: Innsbruck University Library
First edition (same Bible text, but without appendices):
- Wangelium nagaa kan G.-K. Jesus-Kristos Qedus Mateos aka kitabe Abunni Jakobi, Episkopos Adramittaf Vikarios Apostolikos bia Oromo, Afan Oromo aka hike [The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to St. Matthew; transl. [??] by Bishop Jakobus (i.e. Cahagne), Apostolic Vicar of the Oromo]. Paris: Mercier, 1881. [106 pp.; available at the French National Library in Paris; also in Cappuc. Libraries, Genova and Torina]
Notes
This Gospel is probably related to the following manuscript enlisted in Rijks, Guide, p. 157:
- “I Quattro Evangeli (S. Matteo edito, gli altri tre mediti): The Gospels (only Matthew published) by anonymous [and without date]. Rome, Archivio della Missione de Harar”. [Unfortunately, the General Archives of the Capuchin fraternity in Rome does not hold a copy.]
Cahagne and Massaja founded the Capuchin Catholic mission station in Finfinne among the Gullale Oromo. The missionaries were expelled in 1879. Cahagne then published Oromo religious books in France. From 1881 to 1899, he headed the Catholic mission in Harar. Cahagne, who had been titular Bishop of Adramittium since 1875, succeeded Masaja as the governor of the Apostolic Vicariate of Galla.
Cahagne, known locally as Abuna Jacobi, is not to be confused with Gioustino de Jacobis, the titular Bishop of Nilopolis who had never learned Oromo and died in 1860.
Further reading
(1) Sources
Cahagne, Taurin (tr.). Katekismos joki barsisa nama kristian, bia Oromo (Galla) gedêti abunii Jacobi: Catechismus, seu Instructio hominis christiani, quem scripsit ad usum regionum Oromonicarum Fr. Tarinus L. Cahagne qui et abba Jacob. Paris 1880. [Availabe at BnF; several reprints; also at Hamburg Univ. Library (s. Latin title)]
—. Manuale name kristian kara sajtana diseti kristositti aka bulutti abunni Jakobi (T.-L. Cahagne). Paris 1880.
De Jacobis, Giustino, and Lorenzo Biancheri. Dottrina cristiana in lingua amarica ad uso dei cattolici abissini. Roma: Tip. Propaganda Fide, 1850. [Co-authored with Gabra Mika’el]
(2) Encyclopaedia articles
Crummey, Donald – Red. “Jacobis, Gioustino De [1800-60]”, in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, vol. 3, ed. S. Uhlig, p. 263-65. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2007.
Ficquet, Eloi. “Cahagne, Taurin [1826-99]”, in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, vol. 1, ed. S. Uhlig, p. 664-65. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2003.
(3) Other secondary literature
Antonios Alberto. The Apostolic Vicariate of Galla: A Capuchin Mission in Ethiopia (1846-1942). Addis Ababa: Capuchin Franciscan Institute of Philosophy and Theology, 1998. [See p. 151-226]
Tesfaye Tolessa. “The Role of Catholic Missionaries in the Development of Afan Oromo Written Literature, 1839-1935”, East African Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 8, no. 2 (2023), 79-92. [Download article]