OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 18 JAN 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Bishop Andre-Mutien Leonard of Namur, Belgium, as metropolitan archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels (area 6,365, population 2,519,000, Catholics 1,612,000, priests 1,888, permanent deacons 89, religious 3,813), Belgium. The archbishop-elect was born in Jambes, Belgium in 1940, he was ordained a priest in 1964 and consecrated a bishop in 1991. He succeeds Cardinal Godfried Danneels, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Msgr. William Michale Mulvey of the clergy of the diocese of Austin, U.S.A., diocesan administrator, as bishop of Corpus Christi (area 29,690, population 560,614, Catholics 392,430, priests 157, permanent deacons 62, religious 195), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Houston, U.S.A. in 1949 and ordained a priest in 1975. He succeeds Edmund Carmody, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

  On Saturday 16 January it was made public that the Holy Father accepted:

 - The resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Ndola, Zambia, presented by Bishop Noel Charles O'Regan S.M.A., in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Bishop Alick Banda.

 - Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the diocese of Bielsko-Zywiec, Poland, presented by Bishop Janusz Zimniak, in accordance with canons 411 and 401 para. 1 of the Code of Canon Law.
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