OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 3, 2003 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Sergio Aparecido Colombo, auxiliary of San Carlos, Brazil, as bishop of Paranava¡ (area 8,699, population 237,071, Catholics 201,500, priests 40, religious 100), Brazil. He succeeds Bishop Rubens Augusto de Souza Espinola whose resignation from the same diocese the Holy Father accepted upon having reached the age limit.

- Erected the ecclesiastical province of Toliara, Madagascar, taking territory from Fianarantsoa, making the dioceses of Morombe, Morondava and Tolagnore suffragens of the province. He appointed Bishop Fulgence Rabeony, S.I., as metropolitan archbishop of Toliara (area 43,570, population 750,000, Catholics 86,000, priests 38, religious 240), Madagascar.
- Appointed Bishop Andrea Bruno Mazzocato, of Adria-Rovigo, Italy, as bishop of Treviso (area 2,194, population 800,161, Catholics 770,050, priests 667, permanent deacons 17, religious 1,285), Italy. He succeeds Bishop Paolo Magnani whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Msgr. Giuseppe Zenti, vicar general of the diocese of Verona, Italy, as bishop of Vittorio Veneto (area 1,420, population 327,000, Catholics 319,400, priests 341, permanent deacons 11, religious 668), Italy. The bishop-elect was born in 1947 in San Martino Buon Albergo, Italy and was ordained a priest in 1971. He succeeds Alfredo Magarotto whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Msgr. Antonio Lanfranchi, vicar general of the diocese of Piacenza-Bobbio, Italy, as bishop of Cesena-Sarsina (area 1,530, population 160,000, Catholics 157,970, priests 182, permanent deacons 17, religious 158), Italy. The bishop-elect was born in 1946 in Grondone di Ferriere, Italy and was ordained a priest in 1971. He succeeds Bishop Lino Esterino Garavaglia, O.F.M.Cap., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted upon having reached the age limit.

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