OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 4 May 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father:

   - appointed Fr. Zolile Peter Mpambani, S.C.J., as bishop of the Diocese of Kokstad (area 17,655, population 1,809,000, Catholics 85,400, priests 21, religious 60), KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The bishop-elect was born in Umlamli, Eastern Cape, South Africa in 1957 and was ordained a priest in 1987. Since ordination the bishop-elect has served in several pastoral and institutional roles, most recently as provincial superior of the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in South Africa and, alongside the vicar general, as pastor of Sterkspruit parish in the Diocese of Aliwal.

   - appointed Bishop Mark Joseph Seitz as bishop of the Diocese of El Paso (area 69,090, population 848,00, Catholics 662,000, priests 103, permanent deacons 27, religious 190), Texas, USA. Bishop Seitz, previously auxiliary of Dallas, Texas, and titular of Cozyla, serves as a member of the Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

   - appointed Bishop Fernando Carlos Maletti as bishop of the Diocese of Merlo-Moreno (area 301, population 913,000, Catholics 813,820, priests 58, permanent deacons 30, religious 254), Argentina. On the Argentine Episcopal Conference, Bishop Maletti, previously of San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina, serves as president of the Commission for Assistance to Regions in Need and as a member of the Commission for Aboriginals.

On Saturday, 4 May, the Holy Father appointed Archbishop Mario Aurelio Poli of Buenos Aires as ordinary for Catholics of Oriental rite resident in Argentina and without their own ordinary.