Apostolic Vicariate of Hawassa

Bishop Merhakristos Gobezayehu Getachew Yilma, Vicar Apostolic of Hawasa

Birth Place: Dodola (Bale Zone) Birth Date: 4 Dec 1978

Ordained Priest: 16 Jan 2005

Ordained Bishop: 9 Feb 2025

On March 25th, 1937 one of the new Prefectures erected in Ethiopia was the Prefecture of Neghelli Borana, in the then Province of Sidama, entrusted to the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (P.I.M.E). With this new Prefecture, the SidamaProvince became a missionary jurisdiction of its own. Following the expulsion of the P.I.M.E. Missionaries in 1941, the Prefecture of Neghelli was administered by the Apostolic Vicariate of Harar up to 1972, but since December 1964, the Comboni Missionaries had accepted the Holy See’s invitation to work in the then Sidama Province. Fr. E. Ceccarini, Mccj, was the head of the Mission and was later appointed Vicar Delegate of the same. In 1972, the Prefecture was re-instated as an independent ecclesiastical Jurisdiction named Apostolic Prefecture of Hawassa; in 1973 Msgr. Armido Gasparini, Mccj, was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the same. The Prefecture was erected as an Apostolic Vicariate in 1979, with the consecration of its first Bishop, Msgr A. Gasparini, Mccj, succeeded in 1994 by Msgr. Lorenzo Ceresoli, Mccj. On March 21, 2009, Msgr. Lorenzo Ceresoli was
succeeded by Giovanni Migliorati, Mccj. And on October 8, 2016, Bishop Roberto Beragamaschi was the fourth Apostolic Vicar of Hawassa. In February 2025, Bishop Merhakristos Gobezayehu Getachew Yilma became the Fifth Apostolic Vicar of Hawassa.

EXTENT

The Apostolic Vicariate of Hawassa comprises Sidama and Gedeo Zones; Amaaro and Burji special Weredas of Southern Regional State; Guji and Borana Zones of Oromiya Region, and Liben Zone of
Somali Region.

APPROXIMATE FIGURES

The population is estimated to be around 190,575 Catholics (0.4% of 5,880,073 total) with pastoral Centres of 20 parishes, 5691 catechumens and 505 outstations covering an area of 118,000 km².