OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 17, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Bishop Douglas Young S.V.D., auxiliary of the archdiocese of Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea, as metropolitan archbishop of the same archdiocese (area 8,288, population 392,259, Catholics 144,745, priests 38, religious 91). The archbishop-elect was born in Brisbane, Australia in 1950, he was ordained a priest in 1977 and ordained a bishop in 2000. He succeeds Archbishop Michael Meier S.V.D., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Bishop Jose Vilaplana Blasco of Santander, Spain, as bishop of Huelva (area 10,085, population 472,446, Catholics 453,548, priests 153, permanent deacons 8, religious 438), Spain. He succeeds Bishop Ignacio Noguer Carmona, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

  On Saturday, July 15, it was made public that the Holy Father:

 - Appointed Bishop Paul Ponen Kubi C.S.C., auxiliary of Mymensingh, Bangladesh, as bishop of the same diocese (area 16,448, population 14,100,000, Catholics 68,963, priests 28, religious 124). He succeeds Bishop Francis Anthony Gomes, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Fr. Thomas Thuruthimattam C.S.T., superior general of the Little Flower Congregation, as bishop of the eparchy of Gorakhpur of the Syro-Malabars (area 19,070, population 17,120,000, Catholics 2,916, priests 57, religious 212), India. The bishop-elect was born in Aruvikuzhy, India in 1947 and ordained a priest in 1973. He succeeds Bishop Dominic Kokkat C.S.T., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same eparchy, the Holy Father accepted, in accordance with canon 210 para. 1 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.

 - Appointed Bishop Jose Luis Azuaje Ayala, auxiliary of Barquisimeto, Venezuela, as bishop of El Vigia-San Carlos del Zulia (area 8,100, population 368,176, Catholics 357,130, priests 32, religious 38), Venezuela.

 - Appointed Bishop Gratian Mundadan C.M.I., of Bijnor of the Syro-Malabars, India, as apostolic visitor for the Syro-Malabars in India outside their "territorium proprium."
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