He was born in Endadeko, Ighelehames, Akeleguzay, Eritrea and began his religious training at the Debre Bizen Monastery at the age of eleven, and took monastic and priestly vows there. He was raised to the rank of Bishop and then Archbishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church at Addis Ababa, but then left that church to join the Eritrean Synod when the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church broke away from the Ethiopian church upon the independence of Eritrea. He was elevated to the rank of Patriarch of Eritrea in May 1999 at the hands of Coptic Pope Shenouda III, and was enthroned in Asmara.