In order to celebrate and commemorate the Jubilee Year 2025, Pilgrims of Hope, CAFOD commissioned an icon from artist Mulugeta Araya in Ethiopia.
In order to celebrate and commemorate the Jubilee Year 2025, Pilgrims of Hope, CAFOD commissioned an icon from artist Mulugeta Araya in Ethiopia, for the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
Ethiopia was chosen because of the strong tradition of iconography within the country and to demonstrate that this is a global Jubilee – not just something that is happening in England and Wales.
Tigray, the region in northern Ethiopia where the artist lives, is experiencing armed conflict, which has forced hundreds of thousands of people to leave their homes. Increasing droughts, irregular rains and poor soil mean many families are struggling to get enough to eat.
This is particularly relevant given the Jubilee Year’s focus on those struggling with poverty. The challenges of painting an icon in this situation inspire us to reflect on the Jubilee text and this icon in a new light.
Mulugeta Araya, 30, is an artist and an engineer who studied at St Mary’s College, Wukro, in Ethiopia, which is supported by CAFOD.
St Mary’s offers vocational training for young people in agriculture, IT and accounting as well as the arts. The college also takes part in programmes to improve food security, the supply of water, and emergency response in the area.
The icon interprets Jesus’ teaching of healing and liberation in the Synagogue in Luke 4:16-21, which refers to Isaiah 61:1-2. This passage is particularly relevant to the Jubilee given its emphasis on bringing good news to those who are poor, and liberty to those who are captive or oppressed.
In this passage, Jesus reads from the scroll of Isaiah as follows:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. Luke 4:18-19
As Jesus finishes teaching, and rolls the scroll away, he declares that he has come to fulfill this Scripture.
The icon portrays Jesus faithfully in the Northern Ethiopian tradition and is consistent with Ethiopian facial expressions and clothing, such as the women’s head coverings.
Source: cafod.org.uk
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