OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 27, 2005 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Msgr. Giovanni Ricchiuti of the clergy of the archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie, Italy, rector of the Pontifical Regional Seminary of Puglia, as archbishop of Acerenza (area 1,250, population 60,200, Catholics 60,000, priests 37, religious 60), Italy. The archbishop-elect was born in Bisceglie in 1948 and ordained a priest in 1972. He succeeds Archbishop Michele Scandiffio, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Bishop Philippe Nkiere Keana C.I.C.M. of Bondo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, as bishop of Inongo (area 100,000, population 800,000, Catholics 396,000, priests 55, religious 102), Democratic Republic of the Congo. He succeeds Bishop Leon Lesambo Ndamwize, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Fr. Francisco Carlos Bach, vicar general of the diocese of Ponta Grossa, Brazil, as bishop of Toledo (area 8,000, population 344,415, Catholics 305,496, priests 47, permanent deacons 1, religious 99), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Ponta Grossa in 1954 and ordained a priest in 1977.
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