VATICAN CITY (Zenit.org) — Benedict XVI appointed the prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples to represent him in Ethiopia at ceremonies commemorating the new Christian millennium and the national Eucharistic congress.
A Latin-language letter to Cardinal Ivan Dias, dated March 27, was made public Saturday. In the message, the Pope names the cardinal his envoy to the millennium ceremonies and the May 2-4 Eucharistic congress, which will be held in Addis Ababa.
Father Tsegaye Kenini of the archdiocese of Addis Ababa, former secretary-general of the Ethiopian Catholic Secretariat, and Father Tesfaye Tadesse, superior-general of the Combonian Missionary Fathers in Ethiopia and president of the conference of religious superiors-major of Ethiopia, will accompany the cardinal.
Ethiopia uses a calendar that marks New Year on Sept. 11 — or on Sept. 12 in a leap year — and has an eight-year difference with the Gregorian calendar used in the West.