OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 28 October 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father:

- appointed Bishop Richard Joseph Gagnon as archbishop of Winnipeg (area 116,405, population 723,000, Catholics 169,000, priests 82, permanent deacons 19, religious 135), Canada. Archbishop Gagnon, previously bishop of Victoria, was born in Lethbridge, Canada in 1948, was ordained to the priesthood in 1983, and received episcopal ordination in 2004. He succeeds Archbishop James Weisgerber, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese, upon having reached the age limit, was accepted by the Holy Father.

- accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of El Obeid, Sudan, presented by Bishop Macram Max Gassis, M.C.C.J., upon having reached the age limit. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Bishop Michael Didi Adgum Mangoria.

On Saturday, 26 October the Holy Father:

- accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of Luanda, Angola, presented by Bishop Anastacio Kahango O.F.M. Cap., upon having reached the age limit.

- appointed Fr. Giovanni Battista Piccioli of the clergy of Portoviejo, Ecuador, and Fr. Bertram Victor Wick Enzler, episcopal vicar and member of the clergy of Guayaquil, Ecuador, as auxiliaries of Guayaquil (area 12,446, population 2,916,000, Catholics 2,657,000, priests 317, permanent deacons 21, religious 621), Ecuador.

Bishop-elect Piccioli was born in Erbusco, Italy in 1957 and ordained a priest in 1982. He holds a licentiate in theology from the theological faculty of Emilia-Romagna, Bologna. He was sent to Ecuador as a “fidei donum” missionary in 1995. He has served in the following pastoral roles and academic roles: in Italy, parish vicar of two parishes in Brescia and parish priest of San Vito di Bedizzole; in Ecuador, parish priest of “Santa Ana” in Manabi and “Santisima Trinidad del Floron” in Portoviejo, professor of theology in the major seminary of Portoviejo, and parish priest of “Santa Rosa de Lima” in San Vicente.

Bishop-elect Wick Enzler was born in Waldkirch, Switzerland in 1955, and was ordained a priest in 1991. He was sent to Portoviejo, Ecuador as a missionary in 1990, entering the “Santa Maria del fiat” Institute. He has served in the following pastoral roles: parish vicar in Guayaquil, parish priest in the peninsula Santa Elena and in the parishes of “Gesu Buon Pastor”, “Santa Madre de la Iglesia”, and “Santa Elena”; he currently holds the office of episcopal vicar.

- appointed Msgr. Aldo Giordano as apostolic nuncio to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, at the same time elevating him to the dignity of archbishop. Archbishop-elect Giordano was previously special envoy and permanent observer of the Holy See to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.