Bishop of Bahir Dar - Dessie (Ethiopian)
Lisane-Christos Matheos Semahun was born on December 19, 1959, in the Gurage zone near Addis Ababa. He completed his initial theological studies in Rome and was ordained a priest on May 8, 1988. He obtained a Licentiate in Spirituality from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He served as Youth Chaplain, Pastoral Coordinator, Secretary General of the Archeparchy’s Catholic Secretariat, and Protosyncellus of the Archeparchy. On December 18, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Titular Bishop of Matara in Numidia and Auxiliary Bishop of the Metropolitan See of Addis Ababa, with special pastoral responsibility for the Bahir Dar area. He received episcopal ordination on April 18, 2010. He also served as the CBCE Delegate Bishop for Ethiopian Catholics in the diaspora. He is proficient in English and Italian, as well as the liturgical languages of Ge'ez, Tigrinya, and Amharic.