OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, OCT 13, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Archbishop Sergio Sebastiani, president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, as a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

- Erected the diocese of Vitebsk, Belarus, with territory taken from the archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev, making it a suffragan of that same metropolitan Church. He appointed Fr. Wladyslaw Blin, pastor and deacon in Mohilev, as first bishop of the new diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Swidnin, Poland, in 1954 and ordained a priest in 1980.

- Appointed Fr. Cyryl Klimowicz, pastor and deacon in Glebokie, as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev, Belarus. The bishop-elect was born in Amanheldy, Kazakhstan, in 1952 and ordained a priest in 1980.

NA; ECE; NER; NEA;...;...;SEBASTIANI; BLIN; KLIMOWICZ ;VIS;19991013