OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 28 May 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Fr. Leopold Ouedraogo, vicar general of the archdiocese of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese (area 9,600, population 2,337,000, Catholics 810,310, priests 188, religious 905). The bishop-elect was born in Ouagadougou in 1958 and ordained a priest in 1979. He has worked as a pastor and as professor then rector of the major seminary of "Saint Pierre et Paul".

- Fr. Elkin Fernando Alvarez Botero of the clergy of Sonson - Rionegro, Colombia, director of the Department for Hierarchical Ministries of the Colombian Episcopal Conference, as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Medellin (area 687, population 3,456,000, Catholics 3,004,000, priests 1,027, permanent deacons 50, religious 3,664), Colombia. The bishop-elect was born in El Retiro, Colombia in 1968 and ordained a priest in 1993. He studied in Colombia and in Rome and has worked in pastoral care, education and as a local collaborator of the apostolic nunciature to Colombia.

- Bishop Philippe Rukamba of Butare, Rwanda, as apostolic administrator "sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis" of the diocese of Gikongoro, Rwanda.

On Saturday 26 May it was made public that the Holy Father

- Appointed Fr. Dieudonne Espoir Atangana of the clergy of Obala, Cameroon, former rector of the the major seminaries of "Notre Dame de l'Immaculee Conception" of Yaounde and "Notre Dame de l'Esperance" of Bertoua, as bishop of Nkongsamba (area 10,952, population 751,000, Catholics 350,000, priests 131, religious 74), Cameroon. The bishop-elect was born in Ngongo, Cameroon in 1958 and ordained a priest in 1986. He studied in Rome and has worked in the field of education in a number of seminaries. He is currently on a sabbatical year, during which he is serving in various parishes in the diocese of Obala.

- Erected the new diocese of Bafang (area 7,229, population 252,284, Catholics 131,475, priests 31, religious 11) Cameroon, with territory taken from the diocese of Nkongsamba, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan church of Douala. He appointed Fr. Abraham Kome, apostolic administrator of Nkongsamba, as first bishop of the new diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Loum-ville, Cameroon in 1969 and ordained a priest in 1999. Among other roles, he has worked as vicar of the diocesan cathedral, master of ceremonies and pastor of the parish of St. Francis Xavier in Kekem.

- Appointed Bishop Jurij Bizjak, auxiliary of Koper, Slovenia, as bishop of the same diocese (area 4,306, population 267,300, Catholics 194,800, priests 161, religious 91). He succeeds Bishop Metod Pirih, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.