OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 18 September 2013 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father:

- appointed Bishop Jaime Spengler, O.F.M., as metropolitan archbishop of Porto Alegre (area 13,753, population 3,368,000, Catholics 2,507,000, priests 373, permanent deacons 57, religious 1,602), Brazil. Archbishop Spengler, previously auxiliary of the same archdiocese, was born in Blumenau, Brazil in 1960, was ordained to the priesthood in 1990, and received episcopal ordination in 2011. He succeeds Archbishop Dadeus Grings, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese, upon having reached the age limit, was accepted by the Holy Father.

- appointed Bishop Antonio Di Donna as bishop of Acerra (area 157, population 123,887, Catholics 121,763, priests 53, permanent deacons 4, religious 73), Italy. Bishop Di Donna, previously auxiliary of Naples, Italy, was born in Ercolano, Italy in 1952, was ordained to the priesthood in 1976, and received episcopal ordination in 2007. He succeeds Bishop Salvatore Giovanni Rinaldi, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, upon having reached the age limit, was accepted by the Holy Father.

- appointed Bishop Cirilo B. Flores as bishop of San Diego (area 22,942, population 3,124,081, Catholics 982,183, priests 311, permanent deacons 163, religious 353), U.S.A. Bishop Flores, previously coadjutor of the same diocese, was born in Corona, U.S.A in 1948, was ordained to the priesthood in 1991, and received episcopal ordination in 2009. He succeeds Bishop Robert H. Brom, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, upon having reached the age limit, was accepted by the Holy Father.