OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, APR 2, 2005 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Bishop Manuel Urena Pastor of Cartagena, Spain, as metropolitan archbishop of Zaragoza (area 13,309, population 794,000, Catholics 770,000, priests 718, religious 2,360), Spain. He succeeds Archbishop Elias Yanes Alvarez whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

  Over the course of the last few weeks the Holy Father has adopted a number of provisions that can only be made public today. He:

 - Appointed Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto, apostolic nuncio in Tanzania, as apostolic nuncio in El Salvador.

 - Appointed Msgr. Giambattista Diquattro, counsellor to the apostolic nunciature in Italy, as apostolic nuncio to Panama, at the same time elevating him to the dignity of archbishop. The archbishop-elect was born in Bologna, Italy, in 1954 and ordained a priest in 1981.

 - Appointed Bishop Nechan Karakeheyan, of Ispahan of the Armenians, Iran, as Ordinary for Armenian Catholics of Eastern Europe, at the same time assigning him the title of Archbishop "ad personam." He succeeds Archbishop Nerses Der Nersessian C.M.A., whose resignation from the same office was accepted by the Holy Father in accordance with Canon 210 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. He also accepted the resignation from the position of coadjutor of the same Ordinariate presented by Archbishop Vartan Kechichian, in accordance with Canons 218 and 210 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.

  Yesterday afternoon, April 1, it was made public that the Holy Father:

 - Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of Phan Thiet, Vietnam, presented by Bishop Nicolas Huynh Van Nghi. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Bishop Paul Nguyen Thanh Hoan.

 - Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of Taejon, Korea, presented by Bishop Joseph Kyeong Kap-ryong. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Bishop Lazarus You Heung-sik.

 - Appointed Archbishop John Atcherley Dew of Wellington, New Zealand, as military ordinary of New Zealand. He succeeds Cardinal Thomas Stafford Williams, archbishop emeritus of Wellington, whose resignation from same office the Holy Father accepted.

 - Appointed Bishop Boniface Lele of Kitui, Kenya, as metropolitan archbishop of Mombasa (area 30,395, population 1,999,405, Catholics 197,100, priests 75, permanent deacons 1, religious 453), Kenya.

 - Appointed Bishop Malayappan Chinnappa S.D.B. of Vellore, India, as metropolitan archbishop of Madras-Mylapore (area 3,160, population 6,894,871, Catholics 341,314, priests 436, religious 2,705), India.

 - Appointed Fr. Yvon Ambrose as bishop of Tuticorin (area 6,440, population 2,715,000, Catholics 340,000, priests 171, religious 763), India.

 - Appointed Fr. Giuseppe Franzelli M.C.C.I. as bishop of Lira (area 12,030, population 1,751,700, Catholics 980,600, priests 51, religious 148), Uganda.

 - Appointed Msgr. Dieudonne Uringi Uuci as bishop of Bunia (area 22,470, population 918,727, Catholics 474,695, priests 61, religious 192), Democratic Republic of the Congo.

 - Appointed Msgr. Jebamalai Susaimanickam as coadjutor bishop of Sivagangai (area 8,353, population 3,116,363, Catholics 206,861, priests 141, religious 442), India.
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