OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 16, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Erected the ecclesiastical province of Feira de Santana (area 16,878, population 1,125,151, Catholics 979,906, priests 65, permanent deacons 5, religious 149), Brazil, elevating the diocese of Feira de Santana to the rank of metropolitan church and assigning to it as suffragans the dioceses of: Barra, Barreiras, Bonfim, Irece, Juazeiro, Paulo Afonso and Ruy Barbosa. He appointed Bishop Itamar Vian O.F.M. Cap. of Feira de Santana as the first metropolitan archbishop of the new ecclesiastical province. The archbishop-elect was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1940, ordained a priest in 1968 and consecrated bishop in 1983.

- Erected the ecclesiastical province of Vitoria da Conquista (area 24,709, population 750,000, Catholics 600,000, priests 26, permanent deacons 2, religious 72), Brazil, elevating the diocese of Vitoria da Conquista to the rank of metropolitan church and assigning to it as suffragans the dioceses of: Bom Jesus da Lapa, Caetite, Jequie and Livramento de Nossa Senhora. He appointed Bishop Geraldo Lyrio Rocha of Colatina, Brazil, as the first metropolitan archbishop of the new ecclesiastical province. The archbishop-elect was born in Fundao, Brazil, in 1942, ordained a priest in 1967 and consecrated bishop in 1984.

- Appointed Fr. Alessio Saccardo S.J., director of the St. Francis of Sales college in the archdiocese of Teresina, as bishop of Ponta de Pedras (area 14,283, population 106,504, Catholics 97,700, priests 11, religious 17), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Marano Vicentino, Italy, in 1940, and ordained a priest in 1970. He succeeds Bishop Angelo Maria Rivato S.J., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, presented by Auxiliary Bishop John Mendes, upon having reached the age limit.

ECE; NER; RE;...;...;...;VIS;20020116;Word: 290;