OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 1, 2005 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Guarda, Portugal, presented by Bishop Antonio dos Santos, in accordance with Canon 401, para. 2, of the Code of Canon Law. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Bishop Manuel da Rocha Felicio.

 - Appointed Fr. George J. Rassas of the clergy of the archdiocese of Chicago, U.S.A., vicar general, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese (area 3,653, population 6,104,000, Catholics 2,442,000, priests 1,781, permanent deacons 632, religious 3,953). The bishop-elect was born in 1942 and ordained a priest in 1968.

 - Appointed Fr. Wojciech Giertych O.P., member of the general council of the Order of Friars Preachers (Dominicans) and professor of moral theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome and at the "Studium" in the Dominican province of Poland, as theologian of the Pontifical Household.
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