Vatican City, 26 April 2016 – The Holy Father has:

- appointed Archbishop Juan de la Caridad García Rodríguez of Camagüey, Cuba as archbishop of San Cristóbal de La Habana (area 7,542, population 3,930,000, Catholics 2,822,000, priests 131, permanent deacons 27, religious 288), Cuba. He succeeds Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.

- appointed Bishop Ruy Rendón Leal of Matamoros, Mexico as metropolitan archbishop of the archdiocese of Hermosillo (area 36,991, population 753,052, Catholics 706,624, priests 109, permanent deacons 3, religious 75), Mexico. He succeeds Archbishop Ulises Macías Salcedo, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.

- accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of San Cristóbal de La Habana, Cuba, presented by Bishop Alfredo Víctor Petit Vergel, upon reaching the age limit.

- appointed Fr. John Alphonsus Ryan, S.P.S., as bishop of Mzuzu (area 14,000, population 1,600,000, Catholics 450,000, priests 41, religious 91), Malawi. The bishop-elect was born in Tipperary, Ireland in 1952 and was ordained a priest in 1978. He holds a doctorate in mathematics and has served as a missionary in various parishes in Mzuzu, teacher in the Community Day secondary school and St. Patrick minor seminary, and chaplain of the Sisters of the Holy Rosary in Katete. He is currently chaplain and lecturer in mathematics at the Catholic University of Mzuzu, assistant in the St. Augustine parish and its associate outstations, and member of the college of consultors.

- appointed Bishop Edward M. Rice, auxiliary of Saint Louis, U.S.A., as bishop of Springfield – Cape Girardeau (area 66,612, population 1,353,829, Catholics 65,632, priests 133, permanent deacons 22, religious 184), U.S.A.

- appointed Fr. Manuel Herrero Fernández, O.S.A., as bishop of Palencia (area 8,052, population 172,600, Catholics 164,200, priests 308, permanent deacons 1, religious 779), Spain. The bishop-elect was born in Serdio – Val de San Vicente, Spain in 1947, gave his religious vows in 1967 and was ordained a priest in 1970. He holds a bachelor's degree in theology from the Pontifical University of Comillas, Madrid, and a degree in pastoral theology from the Pontfiical University of Salamanca. He has served in a number of roles in Madrid, including spiritual director at the Colegio Nuestra Señora del Buen Consejo, parish priest, provincial adviser for pastoral ministry and vocations and professor of pastoral ministry in the Augustinian theological centres of El Escorial and Los Negrales, and in Santander as episcopal delegate for consecrated life, vicar general for pastoral ministry and diocesan administrator. He is currently vicar general and moderator of the Curia.

- appointed Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla, apostolic nuncio in Kuwait and apostolic delegate in the Arab Peninsula, as apostolic nuncio in Bahrain and in the United Arab Emirates.