OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 8 MAY 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk, apostolic nuncio to Poland, as metropolitan archbishop of Gniezno (area 8,122, population 676,199, Catholics 667,011, priests 541, religious 340), Poland and as primate of Poland. He succeeds Archbishop Henryk Jozef Muszynski, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese and from the office of primate, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Fr. Victor Emilio Masalles Pere of the clergy of the archdiocese of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, pastor of the parish of "Jose da Calasanz" and professor of Holy Scripture, rhetoric and spirituality at the St. Thomas Aquinas Pontifical Seminary in Santo Domingo, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese (area 4,032, population 5,447,000, Catholics 4,794,392, priests 447, permanent deacons 155, religious 2,774). The bishop-elect was born in Barcelona, Spain in 1961 and ordained a priest in 1991.

 - Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Augsburg, Germany and from the office of military ordinary for Germany presented by Bishop Walter Mixa, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

 - Appointed Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, apostolic nuncio to Thailand, Singapore and Cambodia, and apostolic delegate to Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia and Brunei, as apostolic nuncio to India.

 - Appointed Bishop Kyrillos William, of Assiut, Lycopolis of the Copts, Egypt, as a member of the Special Council for Africa of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops.

 - Appointed as members of the Special Council for America of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops: Archbishop Ivan Antonio Marin Lopez of Popayan, Colombia, and Archbishop Jose Horacio Gomez, coadjutor of Los Angeles, U.S.A.
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