OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 15, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Fr. Francois Blondel, vicar general of Limoges, France, as bishop of Viviers (area 5,556, population 284,800, Catholics 257,000, priests 224, permanent deacons 7, religious 922), France. The bishop-elect was born in Limoges in 1940 and ordained a priest in 1965.

- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Ljubljana, Slovenia, presented by Auxiliary Bishop Jozef Kvas, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Archbishop Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature, as prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education. He succeeds Cardinal Pio Laghi, whose resignation from the same post the Holy Father accepted in conformity with canon 354 of the Code of Canon Law.

On Saturday, November 13, it was made public that he:

- Appointed Bishop Giovanni Battista Pichierri of Cerignola-Ascoli Satriano, as bishop of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie (area 701, population 281,869, Catholics 269,369, priests 149, permanent deacons 6, religious 409), Italy. He succeeds Bishop Carmelo Cassati M.S.C., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Bishop Agostino Vallini, auxiliary of the diocese of Napoli, as bishop of Albano (area 661, population 375,000, Catholics 368,000, priests 218, permanent deacons 23, religious 1,148), Italy. He replaces Bishop Dante Bernini whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Fr. Gabriel Mbilingi C.S.Sp., counsellor general of the Holy Ghost Fathers, as coadjutor bishop of Lwena (area 199,786, population 300,000, Catholics 50,000, priests 6, religious 7), Angola. The bishop-elect was born in Bandua, Angloa, in 1958 and ordained a priest in 1984.

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