OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 24, 2004 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Erected the ecclesiastical province of Lodz, Poland elevating the same diocese to metropolitan Church and assigning the diocese of Lowicz as its suffragan. At the same time, he raised Bishop Wladyslaw Ziolek of Lodz to the dignity of metropolitan archbishop.

- Erected the diocese of Bydgoscz, Poland with territory taken from the archdiocese of Gniezno and from the dioceses of Koszalin-Kolobrzeg and Pelplin, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan Church of Gniezno.

- Appointed Bishop Jan Tyrawa, auxiliary of Wroclaw, Poland, as bishop of Bydgoszcz (area 4,000, population 596,202, priests 377, religious 4), Poland.

- Erected the diocese of Swidnica, Poland, with territory taken from the archdiocese of Wroclaw and the diocese of Legnica, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan Church of Wroclaw.

- Appointed Msgr. Ignacy Dec, rector of the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wroclaw, Poland as the first bishop of Swidnica (area 4,500, population 687,514, Catholics approximately 653,138, priests 366, religious 508), Poland. The bishop-elect was born in Hucisko, Poland in 1944 and was ordained a priest in 1969.

- Appointed Msgr. Stanislaw Budzik, rector of the Diocesan Seminary of Tarnow, Poland as auxiliary bishop of same diocese (area 7,566 population 1,126,920, Catholics 1,121,252, priests 1,301, religious 1.328). The bishop-elect was born in 1952 in Lekawica, Poland and was ordained a priest in 1977.

- Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the diocese of Warmia, Poland presented by Bishop Julian Wojtkowski upon having reached the age limit.
ECE:NER:NEA:RE/./. VIS 20040224 (260)