The Holy Father has appointed:

Archbishop Orlando Brandes, metropolitan of Londrina, Brazil, as metropolitan archbishop of Aparecida (area 1,300, population 191,763, Catholics 160,091, priests 105, permanent deacons 2, religious 308), Brazil. He succeeds Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese was accepted by the Holy Father.

Rev. Wellington de Queiroz Vieira as bishop prelate of the prelature of Cristalândia (area 62,691, population 218,800, Catholics 175,500, priests 19, permanent deacons 1, religious 30), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in 1968 in Tocantinópolis, Brazil and was ordained a priest in 1996. He holds a licentiate in philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University and in canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University, both in Rome. In the course of his pastoral ministry he has served as director of the “São Miguel Arcanjo” school in Xamioa, parish priest of “São Vicente de Paula” and “São Sebastião” in Araguaína, as well as diocesan bursar and chancellor. He is currently judge auditor of the Ecclesiastical Chamber of the diocese and pastor of São Paulo Apóstolo in Araguaína.