OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 15 JUN 2009 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the diocese of Limburg, Germany presented by Bishop Gerhard Pieschl, in accordance with canons 411 and 401 para. 1 of the Code of Canon Law.

 - Appointed Fr. Thomas Lohr of the clergy of the diocese of Limburg, Germany, director of the pastoral office and canon of the cathedral chapter, as auxiliary of the same diocese (area 6,182, population 2,360,000, Catholics 677,400, priests 493, permanent deacons 67, religious 1,011). The bishop-elect was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1952 and ordained a priest in 1976.

 - Appointed Dr. Patrizio Polisca as vice director for healthcare and hygiene of the Governorate of Vatican City State.

 - Appointed Dr. Renato Buzzonetti as pontifical physician emeritus.

  On Saturday 13 June it was made public that the Holy Father:

 - Appointed Bishop Heriberto Andres Bodeant Fernandez, auxiliary of Salto, Uruguay, as bishop of Melo (area 24,000, population 153,700, Catholics 122,400, priests 18, permanent deacons 2, religious 47), Uruguay. He succeeds Luis del Castillo Estrada S.J., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

 - Appointed Msgr. Krzysztof Nitkiewicz of the clergy of Bialystok, Poland, under secretary of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, as bishop of Sandomierz (area 7,850, population 724,237, Catholics 703,037, priests 619, religious 483), Poland. The bishop-elect was born in Bialystok in 1960 and ordained a priest in 1985.

 - Erected the new diocese of Obera (area 8,717, population 270,000, Catholics 200,000, priests 27, permanent deacons 15) Argentina, with territory taken from the dioceses of Posadas and of Puerto-Iguazu, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan church of Corrientes. He appointed Msgr. Victor Selvino Arenhardt, vicar general of the diocese of Posadas, as first bishop of the new diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Campo Grande, Argentina in 1948 and ordained a priest in 1977.

 - Appointed Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as his special envoy to the ninth plenary assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences. The event is due to be held in Manila, Philippines from 11 to 16 August.

 - Appointed Msgr. Lluis Clavell of the Personal Prelature of Opus Dei, member of the Academic Council and consultor of the Pontifical Council for Culture, as president of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas.

 - Appointed Msgr. Marco Agostini, official of the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State, as a master of pontifical ceremonies.

 - Appointed as consultors of the congregation for the Causes of Saints: Fr. Jesus Manuel Garcia Gutierrez S.D.B., professor at the Pontifical Salesian University; Fr. Francesco Motto S.D.B., member of the Salesian Historical Institute; Fr. Aimable Musoni S.D.B., professor at the Pontifical Salesian University; Fr. Zdzislaw Jozef Kijas O.F.M. Conv., president of the "St. Bonaventure" Pontifical Theological Faculty; Fr. Gabriele Ingegneri O.F.M. Cap., member of the Capuchin Historical Institute; Ulderico Parente, professor at Rome's San Pio V University, and Francesco Ricciardi Celsi, professor at the Maria Santissima Assunta University.

 - Appointed as consultors of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications: Francesco Casetti, professor of film studies at the faculty of literature and philosophy of the Catholic University and director of the university's department for Communication and Entertainment Industry Studies, and Alvito Joseph Socorro de Souza, secretary general of Signis-World, Belgium.
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