OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 27 September 2013 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father appointed Bishop Jean-Christophe Lagleize as bishop of Metz (area 6,226, population 1,034,000, Catholics 808,800, priests 372, permanent deacons 59, religious 674), France. Bishop Lagleize, previously bishop of Valence, France, was born in Soisy-sous-Montmorency, France in 1954, was ordained to the priesthood in 1981, and received episcopal ordination in 2001. He succeeds Bishop Pierre Raffin, O.P., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.