OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, OCT 30, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Carles Soler Perdigo, auxiliary of Barcelona, as bishop of Girona (area 4,705, population 592,689, Catholics 500,000, priests 301, religious 900), Spain. He succeeds Bishop Jaume Camprodon Rovira, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, in conformity with canon 401, para. 2, of the Code of Canon Law.

- Appointed Fr. Daniel Mizonzo, of the clergy of the diocese of Nkayi (area 59,140, population 485,843, Catholics 257,083, priests 56, religious 28), Republic of the Congo, as bishop of the same diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Nzaou-Mouyondzi, in 1953, and ordained to the priesthood in 1981. He succeeds Bishop Bernard Nsayi, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted in conformity with canon 401, para. 2, of the Code of Canon Law.

- Erected the ecclesiastical province of Visakhapatnam, India, elevating the episcopal see of the same name to metropolitan church, assigning it as suffragan churches the dioceses of Eluru, Guntur, Nellore, Srikakulam and Vijayawada. He appointed Bishop Mariadas Kagithapu, M.S.F.S., of the same diocese, as first metropolitan archbishop of Visakhapatnam.

- Appointed Msgr. Louis Portella, of the clergy of Pointe-Noire, until now apostolic administrator "sede plena et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis" of the diocese of Nkayi, as bishop of Kinkala (area 19,835, population 150,000, Catholics 90,000, priests 42, religious 23), Republic of the Congo. The bishop-elect was born in Pointe-Noire in 1942, and ordained to the priesthood in 1967.

- Appointed Fr. Andres Stanovnik, O.F.M.Cap., assistant superior of that Order, as bishop of Reconquista (area 35,000, population 209,000, Catholics 187,000, priests 42, permanent deacons 1, religious 88), Argentina. The bishop-elect was born in Buenos Aires in 1949, and ordained to the priesthood in 1978.

- Appointed Bishop Gerald Frederick Kicanas, auxiliary of Chicago, as coadjutor bishop of Tucson (area 108,738, population 1,451,477, Catholics 300,423, priests 204, permanent deacons 124, religious 352), U.S.A.

- Appointed Fr. Josep Angel Sainz Meneses, secretary general and chancellor of the archiepiscopal curia of Barcelona, as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Barcelona (area 3,041, population 4,678,945, Catholics 4,303,467, priests 1,466, permanent deacons 50, religious 5,797), Spain. The bishop-elect was born in Sisante, in 1956, and ordained to the priesthood in 1984.

- Accepted the resignation of Auxiliary Bishops Francisco Garmendia, Anthony Francis Mestice, and William Jerome McCormack, of the archdiocese of New York, U.S.A., in accordance with the age limit.

- Appointed Msgr. Josu Iriondo, of the clergy of the archdiocese of New York, episcopal vicar for Hispanic Affairs and pastor of Saint Anthony of Padua Parish in the Bronx; Msgr. Dominick John Lagonegro, of the clergy of the archdiocese of New York, pastor of Saint Columba Parish in Hopewell Junction; and Msgr. Timothy Anthony McDonnell, of the clergy of the archdiocese of New York, pastor of Saint John and Saint Mary Parish in Chappaqua, as auxiliaries of the archdiocese of New York (area 12,212, population 5,276,400, Catholics 2,407,393, priests 1,998, permanent deacons 277, religious 4,935), U.S.A. Bishop-elect Iriondo was born in Legazpi, Spain, in 1938, and ordained to the priesthood in 1962. Bishop-elect Lagonero was born in White Plains, in 1943, and ordained to the priesthood in 1969. Bishop-elect McDonnell was born in New York, in 1937, and ordained to the priesthood in 1963.
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