ETHIOPIA: A delegation of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Visit to Ethiopia.
USCCB Delegation with Ethiopian Bishops
Bezawit Assefa
On August 8th 2023, a delegation of the the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops led by Bishop John Patrick Dolan, Bishop of the Phoenix Diocese of the American Catholic Church, has visited the Ethiopian Catholic Church. During the visit, His Excellency met with Cardinal Abune Berhaneyesus, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia and Excellency Bishops’ to discuss on pastoral issues.
The delegation had discussions with the officials of the Bishops’ Conference General secretariat on the basis of the solidarity between the conferences. In the discussion, a report was pres
ented on the work of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ethiopia General secretariat (CBCE- GS) by the support of the US Bishops’ Conference for the past four years.
Rev. Fr. Teshome Fikre, Secretary General of CBCE-GS, explained the new ten-year pastoral plan of the Ethiopian Church and directions with major activities planned for the next 10 years. Afterwards, the delegation spent time together with the employees of the General secretariat with an Ethiopian cultural coffee ceremony.
His Excellency said “Seeing the vibrancy of the Church in Africa as this is the first time visiting the continent and Ethiopia is my first country to visit, is a true blessing specially for those in many corners of the globe who are isolated in their nation” and
Bishop Dolan appreciated the priorities set by the pastoral plan and promised that the US Catholic Bishops’ conference will continue to support the Church in Ethiopia.
August 9th, 2023 following the visit, the delegation of the US Catholic Bishops’ Conference met with the Apostolic Nuncio to Ethiopia, His Eminence Archbishop Antoine Camilleri in his office at the Vatican Embassy. Continuing the visit, the delegation has also visited the Theological School St. Francis Friary in Addis Ababa managed by the Capuchin fathers.
It has been stated that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ has been supporting the pastoral works of the Ethiopian Catholic Church for more than 20 years.
