Kidane Mehret Cathedral, Asmara

Kidane Mehret Church
Kidane Mehret Church
Basic information
Location	Asmara,  Eritrea
Geographic coordinates	Coordinates: 15°20′28″N 38°56′12″E / 15.340987°N 38.936711°E / 15.340987; 38.936711
Affiliation	Roman Catholic Church
Province	Eritrean Catholic Archeparchy of Asmara
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Cathedral
Status	Active
Architectural description
Architectural type	church
Groundbreaking	1920s

Kidane Mehret Church is a Roman Catholic cathedral located on Adi Quala Street, Asmara, Eritrea. It is in the Eritrean Catholic Archeparchy of Asmara.

Kidane Mehret (ኪዳነ ምሕረት) is a Ge'ez phrase meaning Covenant of Mercy. It refers to the Ethiopic tradition that Jesus promised his mother that he would forgive the sins of those who sought her intercession.

The feast of Our Lady of the Covenant of Mercy is celebrated on 16 Yekatit (Ethiopian calendar), corresponding at present to 24 February (Gregorian calendar) except in leap years, when it corresponds to 25 February, since in the Ethiopian calendar the extra day is inserted in what for the Gregorian calendar is the preceding month of September.

In the centre of the capital of Italian Eritrea the Latin Church Catholics had what was known as the "Asmara Catholic Cathedral" (the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, Asmara) as their principal church, which was completed in 1923. In the northwestern corner of the city, a place of worship was granted to the Alexandrian Rite Catholic community, who preceded the arrival of the Italians. In 1930, they were given their own ordinariate, independent of the Apostolic Vicariate of Eritrea. Father Kidanè-Maryam Cassà, who since 1926 had been their pro-vicar within the Vicariate, was appointed their ordinary and on 3 August 1930 was ordained titular bishop of Thibaris in the chapel of the Pontifical Ethiopian College in Vatican City. At that time they numbered less than 3% of the population of Eritrea.