OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka, president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, as his special envoy at the closing celebrations for the 450th anniversary of the first evangelization of Japan which will take place at Kagoshima on 11th October.

- Fr. Stanislaw Wielgus, former rector of the Catholic University of Lublin, as bishop of Plock (area 9,108, population 1,137,694 Catholics 1,076,094, priests 1,087, religious 1,066), Poland. The bishop-elect was born in Wieszchowiska, Poland in 1939 and was ordained a priest in 1962.

On Saturday, May 22 it was made public that he appointed:

- Bishop Edmundo M. Abaya of Laoag as metropolitan archbishop of Nueva Segovia (area 2,570, population 591,197, Catholics 502,046, priests 61, religious 128), Philippines. The archbishop-elect was born in Candon, Philippines in 1929, was ordained a priest in 1953 and a bishop in 1979.

- Msgr. Nikola Eterovic, nunciature councilor in the Section for Relations with States, as apostolic nuncio in Ukraine. The archbishop-elect was born in Pucisca, Croatia, in 1951, was ordained a priest in 1977 and made a councilor in 1993.

- Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto, apostolic nuncio in the Congo and Gabon, as apostolic nuncio in Tanzania.

- Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, president of the Committee for the Great Jubilee Year of 2000, as his special envoy to the National Eucharistic Conference of Portugal which will take place at Braga from June 3 to 6.

- Msgr. Konrad Krajewski, of the clergy of the diocese of Lodz, Poland, as assistant master of liturgical ceremonies.

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