OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 11, 2003 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Erected the diocese of Mindelo (area 2,207, population 147,489, Catholics 140,114, pritests 20, religious 29), Cape Verde, with territory taken from the diocese of Santiago de Cabo Verde, making it immediately subject to the Holy See.

- Appointed as first bishop of Mindelo Fr. Arlindo Gomes Furtado, pastor of the cathedral of Mindelo. The bishop-elect was born in 1949 in Santa Catarina and was ordained a priest in 1967

- Appointed Msgr. Victor Tamayo Betancourt, pastor of the metropolitan cathedral of Barranquilla, as auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of
Barranquilla (area 3,368, population 2.240,000, Catholics 2,050,000, priests 178, religious 426), Columbia. The bishop-elect was born in 1937 in Anori, Colombia and was ordained a priest in 1964.

- Appointed Msgr. Gonzalo Restrepo Restrepo, rector of the Pontifical Bolivian University, as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Cali (area 2,602, population 2,431,390, Catholics 1,982,390, priests 295, religious 995, permanent deacons 17), Colombia. The bishop-elect was born in 1947 in Urrao, Colombia and was ordained a priest in 1974.

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