The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie, M.C.C.J.

The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie, M.C.C.J., until now superior general of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus, as auxiliary bishop of the archeparchy of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, assigning him the titular see of Cleopatris.

Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie, M.C.C.J., was born in Harar on 22 September 1969. He entered the postulate of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus in 1986, and gave his perpetual vows in the same Congregation on 1 November 1994. He was ordained a priest on 26 August 1995 in Addis Ababa.

He was awarded a licentiate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and a diploma in Islamic studies from the Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Rome. He continued his Islamic studies at Dar Comboni for Arabic Studies in Cairo, and attended a formation course at the Salesian Pontifical University of Rome.

He has held the following offices: deputy parish priest and director of the Comboni School in Haro Wato (2001), provincial counsellor of the Combini Missionaries in Ethiopia (2002-2004), provincial of the Comboni Missionaries in Ethiopia and president of the Conference of Religious Major Superiors of Ethiopia (2005), coordinator of the Confederation of Conferences of Major Superiors of Africa and Madagascar (2013), and superior general of the Comboni Missionaries (2015 and 2022).