OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 16, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father, accepting the request of the French Episcopate, reorganized the French ecclesiastical provinces.

A) He erected the following provinces:

- Marseille, immediately subject to the Holy See, elevating the archdiocese to the level of metropolitan Church and assigning to it as suffragans the archdioceses of Aix and Avignon, metropolitan sees, and the dioceses of Ajaccio, Digne, Frejus-Toulon, Gap, Nice. He appointed Archbishop Bernard Panafieu as metropolitan archbishop.

- Clermont, elevating it to level of metropolitan Church and assigning to it as suffragans the dioceses of Le Puy-en-Velay, Moulins, Saint-Flour. He appointed Bishop Hippolyte Simon as metropolitan archbishop.

- Dijon, elevating it to the level of metropolitan Church and assigning it as suffragans the archdioceses of Sens, metropolitan see, and the dioceses of Autun, Nevers, and the prelature of the "Mission de France" or Pontigny. He appointed Bishop Michel Coloni as metropolitan archbishop.

- Montpellier, elevating it to the level of metropolitan Church and assigning to it as suffragans the dioceses of Carcassonne, Mende, Nimes and Perpignan-Elne. He appointed Bishop Guy Thomazeau as metropolitan archbishop.

- Poitiers, elevating it to the level of metropolitan Church and assigning to it as suffragans the dioceses of Angouleme, La Rochelle, Limoges and Tulle. He appointed Bishop Albert Rouet as metropolitan archbishop.

B) He assigned as suffragans:

- the dioceses of Aire, Agen, Bayonne and Perigueux to the metropolitan Church of Bordeaux.

- the dioceses of Annecy, Belley-Ars, Grenoble, Saint-Etienne, Valence, Viviers, and the archdiocese of Chambery, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Tarentaise, metropolitan see, to the metropolitan Church of Lyon.

- the dioceses of Amiens, Beauvais, Chalons, Langres, Soissons and Troyes to the metropolitan Church of Reims.

- the dioceses of Angers, Laval, Le Mans, Lucon, Nantes, Quimper, Saint-Brieuc and Vannes to the metropolitan Church of Rennes.

- the archdioceses of Albi and Auch, metropolitan sees, and the dioceses of Cahors, Montauban, Pamiers, Rodez, Tarbes and Lourdes to the metropolitan Church of Toulouse.

- the archdiocese of Bourges, metropolitan see, and the dioceses of Blois, Chartres and Orleans to the metropolitan Church of Tours.

C) He confirmed as suffragans:

- the dioceses of Belfort-Montbeliard, Nancy, Saint-Claude, Saint-Die and Verdun to the metropolitan Church of Besancon.

- the dioceses of Arras and Lille to the metropolitan Church of Cambrai.

- the dioceses of Creteil, Evry-Corbeil-Essonnes, Meaux, Nanterre, Pontoise, Saint-Denis and Versailles to the metropolitan Church of Paris.

- the dioceses of Bayeax, Coutances, Evreux, Le Havre and Sees to the metropolitan Church of Rouen.

D) He confirmed the archdiocese of Strasbourg and the diocese of Metz as "immediate subiectae Sanctae Sedi".

On Saturday December 14, it was made public that the Holy Father:
- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Ngozi, Burundi presented by Bishop Stanislas Kaburungu, in accordance with Canon 401, para. 2, of the Code of Canon Law. Bishop Gervais Banshimiyubusa, coadjutor of the same diocese, will succeed him.

- Appointed Fr. Joachim Ntahondereye, professor of moral theology at the Major Seminary in Gitega, Burundi, as bishop of Muyinga (area 5,767, population 959,920, Catholics 525,027, priests 31, religious 122), Burundi. The bishop-elect was born in 1953 in Camzai, Burundi and was ordained in 1980.

- Appointed Msgr. Jair Ferreira Pena, Frs. Miguel Vasco Costa de Salis Amaral and Fernando Jose Monteiro Guimaraes, C.SS.R., as consultors of the Congregation of the Causes of Saints.

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