Priestly Ordination of deacon Abreham Woldetinsae Hailemariam in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has a new Comboni missionary priest

The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me, for Yahweh has anointed me.
He has sent me to bring the Good News to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken;
 to proclaim liberty to captives, freedom to those in prison (Isaiah 61:1).

Every year, for the past three years, the Comboni Province of Ethiopia has been blessed to see her children being ordained to the priesthood. This year, on November 03^rd 2022, feast of Saint Francis Xavier, patron of the missions and of the Comboni Institute, it was the turn of deacon Abreham Woldetinsae Hailemariam to be ordained at Saint Joseph Parish of Taza Wota, in the Vicariate of Hosanna, South East Ethiopia.

Abraham, after completing his theological studies in Peru, was sent to Gilgil Beles for his missionary service among the Gumuz people, where he was ordained deacon at the end of last year. The ordination celebration saw the gathering of a great congregation of Christians coming from the fourteen chapels of the parish, with the participation of the local clergy, Capuchin and Consolata priests and obviously a big number of Comboni Missionaries without forgetting the participation of many sisters of different institutes.

The ordinary of the vicariate, His Excellency bishop Seyoum Fransua Noel, in his homely, invited the candidate he was going to ordained to the priesthood the follow the courage and determination of the saint of the day, Francis Xavier, and especially the dedication of the founder of his religious family, Saint Daniel Comboni, giving himself totally for the cause of evangelization and the work of the Kingdom of God. Bishop Seyoum expressed also his desire to have the Comboni Missionaries in his vicariate since there is a considerable number of priests originally from Hosanna who are in the Comboni family.

After a celebration that lasted for four hours, we had a new priest according to the order of Melchizedek. The ordination was followed by a lunch served in the family home of Abba Abreham. The new Ethiopian Comboni priest celebrated his first mass with his parishioners in the following day, Sunday.
Fr. Hippolyte Apedovi, MCCJ