OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 7, 2004 (VIS) - the holy father:

- Accepted the resignation of bishop howard george tripp from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of southwark, england upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed bishop gil antonio moreira, auxiliary of sao paulo, brazil, bishop of the diocese of jundiai (area 2,299, population 962,214, catholics 769,771, priests 85, permanent deacons 63, religious 226), brazil. he succeeds bishop amaury castanho whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the holy father accepted upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed bishop joseph f. naumann, auxiliary of st. louis, u.s.a. as coadjutor archbishop of the archdiocese of kansas city in kansas (area 32,425, population 1,174,500, catholics 197,752, priests 159, religious 756), u.s.a.

- Approved the election canonically carried out by the synod of bishops of the church armenian catholic church, which met in bzommar, lebanon from september 1-9, 2003, of fr. Kricor-okosdinos coussa, pastor of holy cross parish in alep, syria and of holy martyrs parish in rakka, syria, as bishop of the eparchy of alexandria of the armenians (catholics 1,276, priests 1, religious 5), egypt. The bishop-elect was born in alep in 1953 was ordained a priest in 1980.
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