OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 14 June 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has:

- appointed Archbishop George Panikulam, formerly apostolic nuncio in Ethiopia and Djibouti and apostolic delegate in Somalia, as apostolic nuncio in Uruguay.

- appointed Bishop Gary Gordon of Whitehorse, Canada as Bishop of Victoria (area 33,197, population 729,000, Catholics 98,400, priests 47, religious 80), Canada.

- appointed Msgr. John J. Jenik, Fr. Peter J. Byrne, and Fr. John J. O'Hara as auxiliaries of the archdiocese of New York (area 12,212, population 5,854,721, Catholics 2,634,624, priests 1,515, permanent deacons 292, religious 3,840), U.S.A.

Bishop-elect Jenik was born in Manhattan, U.S.A. in 1944 and was ordained a priest in 1970. He holds a bachelor's degree in theology from the St. Joseph's seminary, Yonkers, and a master's degree in education from the Fordham University, Yonkers. He has served as deputy priest of the “St. Jerome's Parish” and the “St. Thomas Aquinas Parish” in the Bronx, New York, and is currently priest of the “Our Lady of Refuge Parish”, the Bronx, New York and regional vicar for north-west Bronx. He was named Prelate of Honour of His Holiness in 1995.

Bishop-elect Byrne was born in Manhattan, U.S.A. in 1951 and was ordained a priest in 1984. He holds a bachelor's degree in history and social sciences from the Fordham University, Yonkers, and a bachelor's degree in theology from the St. Joseph's seminary, Yonkers. He has served as deputy priest of the “Holy Family Parish” in the Bronx, New York, and administrator and subsequently priest of the “Immaculate Conception” and the “St. John the Baptist” parishes in Staten Island. He is currently priest of the “St. Elizabeth Parish” in Manhattan, New York.

Bishop-elect O'Hara was born in Jersey City, U.S.A. in 1946 and was ordained a priest in 1984. He holds a bachelor's degree in English from the Seton Hall University, South Orange, and carried out his ecclesiastical studies at the St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers. He has served as deputy priest of the “St. Augustine Parish”, New City, the “St. Charles Parish”, Staten Island, and the “St. Teresa of the Infant Jesus Parish”, Staten Island, where he subsequently became priest in 2000. He is also director for Strategic Parish Planning for the archdiocese of New York.

- appointed Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, archbishop emeritus of Santiago de Chile, Chile, as his special envoy to the Third World Apostolic Congress on Mercy (WACOM III), to be held in Bogota, Colombia from 15 to 19 August 2014.