Pope Leo XIV Appoints New Members to Dicastery, Including Two AMECEA Prelates
On June 24, 2025, as the Catholic Church celebrated the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, Pope Leo XIV appointed new members to the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Among them were two prelates from the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA): Archbishop Jude Thaddaeus Ruwa’ichi of Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, and Auxiliary Bishop Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie of Ethiopia.
Archbishop Ruwa’ichi, a member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (O.F.M. Cap.), was ordained a priest in 1981. Appointed Bishop of Mbulu, Tanzania, by Pope John Paul II in 1999, he later served as Bishop of Dodoma from 2005 to 2010. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI elevated him to Archbishop of Mwanza. He became Coadjutor Archbishop of Dar-es-Salaam in June 2018 and assumed the role of Archbishop on August 15, 2019.
Bishop Tesfaye, a member of the Comboni Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MCCJ), was born on September 22, 1969, in Harar, Ethiopia. He joined the Comboni Missionaries in 1986 and was ordained a priest on August 26, 1995, in Addis Ababa. He holds a licentiate in Arabic and Islamic Studies and a diploma in Islamic Studies from the Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Rome, a Bachelor of Arts in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, and completed additional Islamic studies at Dar Comboni in Cairo and a formation course at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome. Before his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop in November 2024, he served as deputy parish priest and director of the Comboni School in Haro Wato (2001), provincial counsellor (2002–2004), provincial of the Comboni Missionaries in Ethiopia, president of the Conference of Religious Major Superiors of Ethiopia (2005), and Superior General of the Comboni Missionaries (2015 and 2022).
Other African members of the Dicastery include Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, Archbishop of Rabat, Morocco (Salesians of John Bosco), and Bishop Thulani Victor Mbuyisa of Kokstad, South Africa (Congregation of Mariannhill Missionaries).
The Dicastery, comprising 22 cardinals, 9 bishops, and numerous global members, is led by Sr. Simona Brambilla, appointed Prefect by Pope Francis in January 2025, making her the first woman to head a Dicastery of the Holy See. The Dicastery supports Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in following Christ according to their unique charisms, rooted in their founders’ spirit and traditions, to faithfully pursue their missions and contribute to the Church’s global mission.