By Paschal Norbert
ROME, MARCH 30, 2025 (CISA)- The General Council of the Comboni Missionaries, on March 11, 2025, in accordance with the provisions of the Rule of Life (157.4), appointed Fr Austine Radol Odhiambo as the new Vice Superior General, succeeding Fr Luigi Fernando Codianni, who was elected Superior General on February 21. Fr Codianni, a native of Italy, succeeded Ethiopian Bishop Tesfaye Tadesse Gebresilasie, who was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Addis Ababa on February 2,2025.
Fr Radol’s appointment will take effect on April 1, 2025, and will continue until the conclusion of the current administration’s term, which ends with the 20th General Chapter in 2028.
“The Council expresses its gratitude to Fr Radol for his willingness to take on this assignment,” reads the communiqué sent to all superiors of the Comboni provinces.
Fr Austine Radol Odhiambo was born on November 27, 1972, in Kobong Sub-Location, Uyoma Central, Rarieda Constituency in Siaya County, Kenya. He entered the Institute with his first religious profession on May 8, 1999, in Namugongo, Uganda. From 1999 to 2004, he pursued theological studies in Innsbruck, Austria, and was ordained a priest on August 19, 2004, at St. Theresa’s Cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kisumu, Kenya.
Fr Radol began his pastoral mission in Eritrea, arriving in November 2004. However, in June 2007, during a holiday visit home, he was prevented from returning to Eritrea due to government restrictions on foreign missionaries and was officially expelled in November 2007.
From February 2008 to June 2009, he studied Arabic in Cairo, Egypt. Unable to resume his mission in Eritrea, he was reassigned to the province of Kenya, where he focused primarily on missionary animation and vocational promotion.
From January 1, 2017, to December 2022, he served as the provincial superior of Kenya. After completing his term and taking a six-month sabbatical, he was assigned to the German-speaking Province (DSP) in June 2023. He is currently based in the community of Nürnberg, Germany.
