OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 3 July 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father:

- appointed Archbishop Tarcisius Gervazio Ziyaye as archbishop of Lilongwe (area 24,025, population 5,064,000, Catholics 1,550,000, priests 84, religious 195), Malawi. Archbishop Ziyaye was previously archbishop of Blantyre, Malawi. He succeeds Archbishop Remi Joseph Gustave Sainte-Marie, M. Afr., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- appointed Bishop Victor Henry Thakur as archbishop of Raipur (area 60,819, population 15,986,000, Catholics 69,453, priests 146, religious 580), India. Archbishop Thakur was previously bishop of Bettiah, India. He succeeds Archbishop Joseph Augustine Charanakunnel, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- appointed Fr. Jose Maria Chaves dos Reis, of the clergy of Cameta, Brazil, as bishop of Abaetetuba (area 28,256, population 490,000, Catholics 351,000, priests 32, religious 40), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Oeiras do Para, Brazil in 1962 and was ordained a priest in 1996. Currently vicar general and rector of the“Bom Pastor” major seminary in Cameta, he also previously served in the same diocese in the roles of rector of the “Padre Josimo” minor seminary, vicar of the “San Joao Batista” cathedral, and parish priest in the Cathedral of Cameta.

- appointed Msgr Joseph Arshad as bishop of Faisalabad (area 35,300, population 36,207,000, Catholics 155,000, priests 42, permanent deacons 4, religious 129), Pakistan. The bishop-elect was born in Lahore, Pakistan in 1964 and was ordained a priest in 1991. Currently nunciature counsellor to the apostolic nunciature in Bosnia-Herzegovina, he has held roles in the diplomatic service of the apostolic nunciatures of Malta, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Madagascar.

- appointed Msgr Joao Gilberto de Moura, of the clergy of Ituiutaba, Brazil, as bishop of Jardim (area 69,972, population 397,000, Catholics 277,000, priests 15, permanent deacons 3, religious 23), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Ituiutaba, Brazil in 1963 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1995. He was named prelate of honour by his Holiness in 2008. Currently parish priest in the cathedral “Cristo Rei”, judicial vicar of the Ecclesiastic Tribunal of Ituiutaba, and procurator, economist and vicar general of the diocese of Ituiutaba, he has served in a number of pastoral roles in the same diocese.

- appointed Cardinal John Onaiyekan, archbishop of Abuja, Nigeria as apostolic administrator ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of the diocese of Ahiara, Nigeria.