Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie

Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie, MCCJ (born on 22 September 1969) is an Ethiopian Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Addis Abeba and head of the Ethiopian Catholic Church since 2026. Previously he served as an auxiliary bishop for the Archeparchy of Addis Abeba from 2024 to 2026. He is a member of the Comboni Missionaries.

Background and education He was born on 22 September 1969 in Harar, Harari Region, Ethiopia. In 1986, he became a member of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus. He took his perpetual vows of the Comboni Missionaries on 1 November 1994. He was ordained a priest of that religious order on 26 August 1995.

He studied theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, in Rome, Italy. He then studied at the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies, also in Rome, Italy, where he earned a Licentiate in Arabic and Islamic Studies in 2001. He undertook advanced studies in the Arabic language at the Dar Comboni Institute for Arabic Studies in Cairo, Egypt.

Priest On 1 November 1994 he took his perpetual vows as a Comboni Missionary. He was ordained a priest of the Order of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus on 26 August 1995 at Addis Ababa in the Ethiopian Catholic Archeparchy of Addis Abeba, in Ethiopia.

Bishop On 6 November 2024, Pope Francis appointed Reverend Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie as Auxiliary Bishop of the Ethiopian Catholic Archeparchy of Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, and a Titular Bishop of Cleopatris. He was consecrated and installed there on 2 February 2025 at the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Addis Ababa. The Principal Consecrator was Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, Archbishop of Addis Ababa assisted by Archbishop Menghesteab Tesfamariam, Archbishop of Asmara (Eritrean), and Bishop Abraham Desta, Titular Bishop of Horrea Aninici.