OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 20 March 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, U.S.A., as archbishop of Baltimore (area 12,430, population 3,119,000, Catholics 499,529, priests 543, permanent deacons 158, religious 1,249), U.S.A.

- Appointed Msgr. David J. Malloy of the clergy of the archdiocese of Milwaukee, U.S.A., pastor of the parish of St. Francis de Sales at Lake Geneva, as bishop of Rockford (area 16,717, population 1,665,000, Catholics 451,509, priests 288, permanent deacons 136, religious 184), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Milwaukee in 1956 and ordained a priest in 1983. He studied in Rome then served for a number of years in the diplomatic service of the Holy See before becoming an official of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household. From 2006 to 2011 he was secretary general of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He succeeds Bishop Thomas G. Doran, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Bishop Christian Lepine, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Montreal, Canada, as metropolitan archbishop of the same archdiocese (area 1,103, population 2,574,000, Catholics 1,640,000, priests 1,163, permanent deacons 100, religious 4,158). He succeeds Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Fr. Gregory L. Parkes of the clergy of the diocese of Orlando, U.S.A., vicar general, chancellor for canonical affairs and pastor of the parish of Corpus Christi at Celebration, as bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee (area 36,724, population 1,381,566, Catholics 74,868, priests 94, permanent deacons 67, religious 49), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Mineola, U.S.A. in 1964 and ordained a priest in 1999. Before becoming a priest he worked in the banking sector. He studied in Rome and, since ordination, has worked in pastoral care in the diocese of Orlando.

On Saturday 17 March it was made public that the Pope:

- Appointed Archbishop Mario Roberto Cassari, apostolic nuncio to South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland, also as apostolic nuncio to Lesotho.

- Appointed Bishop Rufin Anthony of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, Pakistan, as apostolic administrator "sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis" of the diocese of Faisalabad, Pakistan.