Bishop Seyoum Franso Noel

Rev. Seyoum Franso Noel was born on 20 August 1970 in Ethiopia, in the Arsi zone (district of Gololcha, village of Waragu) in the apostolic vicariate of Meki. After his secondary studies at the Catholic school of Meki, he studied philosophy and theology in the Franciscan Capuchin Institute in Addis Abeba, affiliated to the Pontifical Urbanian University, where he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in theology. After priestly ordination on 5 September 1998 for the apostolic vicariate of Meki, he held the following offices: assistant to the rector of the major seminary of Meki in Addis Abeba (1998-1999); rector of the minor seminary of Meki and assistant to the pastor of the Cathedral (1999-2002); and assistant to the secretary of the National Catholic Secretariat in Addis Abeba (2002-2006). From 2002 to 2003 he attended courses in general management at the Alpha Education Institute and Share Company in Addis Abeba, obtaining a diploma, and from 2006 to 2012 he studied missiology at the Pontifical Urbanian University, where he obtained a licentiate and a doctorate, residing in the Pontifical St. Peter’s College. He has served as vice secretary general of the National Catholic Secretariat in Addis Abeba since 2012, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 2013, director of the pastoral department of the Catholic Secretariat since 2016, and delegate vicar of Meki since 2015.