OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 8, 2005 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Erected the diocese of Awgu (area 1,310, population 600,000, Catholics 360,000, priests 42, religious 34), Nigeria, with territory taken from the diocese of Enugu, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan church of Onitsha. He appointed Fr. John Ifeanyichukwu Okoye of the clergy of Enugu, professor of Holy Scripture and rector of the Bigard Memorial Seminary in Enugu, as bishop of the new diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Owelli, Nigeria, in 1950 and ordained a priest in 1978.

 - Appointed Fr. Rochus Tatamai M.S.C., chaplain of the basilica of Issoudun, France, as auxiliary of the diocese of Kerema (area 34,000, population 106,898, Catholics 21,555, priests 14, religious 15), Papua New Guinea. The bishop-elect was born in Raduna, Papua New Guinea, in 1962 and ordained a priest in 1989.
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