Other Pontifical Acts

Vatican City, 2 February 2016 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed:

- Msgr. Robert Bourgon as bishop of Hearst (area 799, population 139,977, Catholics 138,000, priests 89, permanent deacons 7, religious 104), Canada. The bishop-elect was born in Sudbury, Canada in 1956 and was ordained a priest in 181. He holds a doctorate in canon law and has served in a number of pastoral and administrative roles, including parish vicar, parish priest, judge of the ecclesiastical tribunal and diocesan chancellor. He is currently vicar general of the diocese of Sault Saint Marie. He succeeds Bishop Vincent Cadieux, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.

- Msgr. Robert Bourgon, bishop-elect of Hearst, Canada, as apostolic administrator of the diocese of Moosonee, Canada, united in persona episcopi with that of Hearst, under the pastoral care of Bishop Cadieux.

- Archimandrite Manuel Nin, O.S.B., as apostolic exarch for the faithful of Byzantine Rite in Greece (Catholics 6,000, priests 6, religious 11). The bishop-elect was born in El Vendrell, Spain in 1956, gave his religious vows in 1980 and was ordained a priest in 1998. He holds a degree in theology and has served as spiritual father and rector of the Pontifical Greek College, first assistant to the president of the Sublacense Cassinese Congregation. He is currently consultor in the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff and member of the Liturgical Commission of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. He succeeds Bishop Dimitrios Salachas, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same exarchate in accordance with canons 201 and 1 of the Code of Canons of the Oriental Churches.

- Rev. Christudas Rajappan as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Trivandrum of the Latins (area 686, population 368,000, Catholics 261,220, priests 230, religious 891). The bishop-elect was born in 1971 in India and was ordained in 1998. He holds a doctorate in missiology from the Pontifical Urbanian University, and has served as parish administrator, director of the KCYM in Trivandrum, chaplain of the Catholic Hostel, and spiritual director and professor at St. Joseph's Pontifical Seminary in Alwaye. He is currently rector of St. Vincent's Seminary in Menankulam, director of the Board of Clergy and Religious, and pastor of the St. Thomas Aquinas parish in Kochuthura.