Pope Appoints Bishops to Hanoi, Vinh in Vietnam

(13 May 10 - RV) Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Hanoi, Vietnam, presented by Archbishop Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Archbishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon.

The Holy Father appointed Fr. Paul Nguyen Thai Hop O.P., professor of ethics and Church social doctrine at the Dominican study centre and various other religious institutes, and professor at the Ho Chi Minh Ville State University, as bishop of Vinh (area 30,594, population 6,090,000, Catholics 486,234, priests 166, religious 610), Vietnam. The bishop-elect was born in Lang Anh, Vietnam in 1945 and ordained a priest in 1972. He succeeds Bishop Paul-Marie Cao Dinh Thuyen M.S.C., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.