Vicariate

The Hawassa Catholic Secretariat is situated 275 km south of the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. The Vicariate stretches out over an area of 118,000 km2 in three administrative regions of the country: Southern Nation Nationalities People’s State (SNNPRS), Oromia and Somalia.

Geographic Coverage

The Pastoral, Social and Development services are extended to the peoples of Sidama, Gedeo, Guji, Borena, Liben and Segen Zones which all together make up over 8 million people occupationally encompassing agrarian, agro-pastoralist & pastoralist communities. The agro-climate condition of these areas vary from highland, midland to lowlands scattered over difficult terrains extending tothe arid lowlands of the Ethiopia-Kenyan border. Most of the lowlands are naturally prone to climate variability and subject to chronic food insecurity.

History of the Catholic Church in Hawassa

Originally founded as the Apostolic Prefecture of Negelle- Borena in 1937, it was elevated to the status of Apostolic Vicariate of Hawassa on March 15, 1979, with the nomination of the first Bishop, Msgr. A Gasparini, succeeded by Msgr. Lorenzo Ceresoli in 1994, then Msgr. Yohannes Migliorati in 2009. In 2016, Roberto Berhamaschi became the fourth Vicar Apostolic of Awassa. The Vicariate is a young but rapidly growing Church with 216,052 faithful accounting for 27% of the total Catholic population in the country.