OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 20, 2004 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Archbishop Thomas E. Gullickson, apostolic nuncio in Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas, Dominica, Sts. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadine, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, Suriname and apostolic delegate in the Antilles, as apostolic nuncio in Grenada.

  It was made public on Saturday, December 18 that the Holy Father:

- Appointed Archbishop Salvatore Nunnari of Sant'Angelo dei Lombardi-Conza-Nusco-Bisaccia, Italy, as metropolitan archbishop of Cosenza-Bisignano (area 2,537, population 382,000, Catholics 374,000, priests 254, permanent deacons 26, religious 703), Italy. He succeeds Archbishop Giuseppe Agostino whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese was accepted upon having reached the age limit.

- Erected the diocese of Alindao (area 18,457, population 160,000, Catholics 38,000, priests 15, religious 12), Central African Republic, with territory take from the diocese of Bangassou, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Bangui.

- Appointed Fr. Peter Marzinkowski, C.S.Sp., provincial superior of Germany, as bishop of Alindao, Central African Republic. The bishop-elect was born in 1939 in Leipzig, Poland and was ordained a priest in 1966.

- Appointed Msgr. Luigi Ernesto Palletti, chancellor general of the archdiocese of Genoa, Italy as auxiliary bishop of the same archdiocese (area 966, population 726,093, Catholics 690,133, priests 582, permanent deacons 23, religious 1,917). The bishop-elect was born in 1956 in Genoa and was ordained a priest in 1983.

- Appointed Archbishop Ambrose B. De Paoli, apostolic nuncio in Japan, as apostolic nuncio in Australia.

- Appointed Archbishop Luis Robles Diaz, vice president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, as a member of the Congregation for Bishops.

- Appointed Cardinal Josip Bozanic, archbishop of Zagreb, Croatia, as his special envoy to the solemn celebration of the 17th centenary of the martyrdom of St. Anastasia, patron of the archdiocese of Zadar, which will take place on January 15 in 2005 in Zadar, Croatia.

- Appointed Cardinal Joachim Meisner, archbishop of Cologne, Germany, as his special envoy to the solemn celebration of the 850th anniversary of the arrival of St. Henry, bishop, in Finland and the 50th anniversary of the erection of the diocese of Helsinki, Finland, which will take place on February 27, 2005 in Helsinki.

- Appointed Msgr. Kazimierz Gurda, of the clergy of the diocese of Kielce, Poland and rector of the diocesan seminary, as auxiliary bishop of the same diocese (area 8,319, population 788,824, Catholics 768,525, priests 696, religious 507), Poland. The bishop-elect was born in 1953 in Ksiaznice Wielke, Poland and was ordained a priest in 1978.
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