Rocky paths to purify the soul

Documentary- Reportage. Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, a country famous for being a mix of cultures and religions that coexist with each other, there are places where time seems to have stopped and where hermit priests, custodians of monolithic Christian-Orthodox churches, still try to pass on their knowledge to young novices . My goal, in the context of human rights to worship and interreligious coexistence, was to document these places and the activities carried out to pass on the Sacred Scriptures imported into this African region hundreds of years ago.
These rock churches, some dating back to the sixth century AD, are about 120 and many of them have been carved into the rock in remote places on top of the mountains, both for the need for "protection" from persecution, both for the difficult bumpy path that a faithful must undertake before reaching the sacred place and purify his soul.
Inside them, still well-preserved frescoes tell biblical stories and the deeds of the nine saints who evangelized Ethiopia and, with the help of candles and flashlights, is possible to admire their beauty and be overwhelmed by the mysticism of these places attending the Holy Mass and for those who understand the Ethiopian Amharic language, to listen the teachings that the Priests impart to the novice monks who try to start their ecclesiastical life.
The importance of the right to religious worship, a subject much debated at a global level today, takes on even more importance when one understands the enormous difficulties that these local communities and priests have faced for hundreds of years to protect their beliefs and sacred places, such as these spectacular rock churches. We must all work to safeguard the right to live one's faith in peace and harmony, whatever it is, in mutual respect and in a terrible year for humanity, flooded with dramatic news as well as the civil war that has involved these places, I have wanted through the images to enhance the beauty of these places and the faith of these people, in the hope that it will never be lost.