OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Fr. Hugo Manuel Salaberry S.J., president of the Higher Council of Catholic Education, as bishop of Azul (area 64,210, population 469,000, Catholics 418,000, priests 71, permanent deacons 21, religious 120), Argentina. The bishop-elect was born in San Andres de Giles, Argentina in 1952 and ordained a priest in 1985. He succeeds Bishop Emilio Bianchi di Carcano, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Bishop Diomedes Espinal de Leon, auxiliary of Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, as bishop of Mao-Monte Cristi (area 4,841, population 400,000, Catholics 385,000, priests 35, permanent deacons 6, religious 78), Dominican Republic. He succeeds Bishop Jeronimo Tomas Abreu Herrera, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Bishop Roberto Rodriguez of Villa Maria, Argentina, as bishop of La Rioja (area 92,100, population 313,365, Catholics 278,895, priests 37, religious 67), Argentina.

 - Appointed Msgr. Oscar Vicente Ojea, pastor of the parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Buenos Aires, as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Buenos Aires (area 203, population 2,763,000, Catholics 2,530,000, priests 868, permanent deacons 4, religious 2,340), Argentina. The bishop-elect was born in Buenos Aires in 1946 and ordained a priest in 1972.

 - Appointed Fr. Broderick Sonsuaco Pabillo S.D.B., of the clergy of the apostolic vicariate of Puerto Princesa, Philippines, pastor of the parish of St. Ezekiel Moreno in Puerto Princesa City, as auxiliary of Manila (area 117, population 2,993,000, Catholics 2,719,781, priests 482, permanent deacons 2, religious 1,138), Philippines. The bishop-elect was born in Victoria City, Philippines in 1955 and ordained a priest in 1982.

 - Appointed Fr. Peter Stumpf S.D.B., pastor and dean of Rakovnik, as auxiliary of the metropolitan archdiocese of Maribor (area 7,418, population 824,855, Catholics 702,916, priests 397, permanent deacons 4, religious 229), Slovenia. The bishop-elect was born in Beltinci, Slovenia in 1962, and ordained a priest in 1990
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