The Holy Father has:

- appointed Bishop João Justino de Medeiros Silva, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Belo Horizonte as coadjutor archbishop of Montes Claros (area 45,520, population 825,000, Catholics 670,000, priests 109, permanent deacons 19, religious 161), Brazil.

- accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of Lille, France, presented by Bishop Gérard Coliche.

- appointed Msgr. Antoine Hérouard as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Lille (area 2,288, population 1,591,700, Catholics 1,099,000, priests 403, permanent deacons 84, religious 692), France. The bishop-elect was born in 1956 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, and was ordained a priest in 1985. He studied at the Pontifical French Seminary in Rome, frequenting courses of ecclesiastical study at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and obtaining a licentiate in moral theology with specialisation in the social field. He has served in a number of pastoral roles in the archdiocese of Paris, including vicar of the parish Saint-Jacques-du-Haut-Pas, chaplain of the lyceums in the Latin quarter, teacher of moral theology at the seminary and the Studium of the Cathedral School of Paris (Notre-Dame Faculty), vicar of the parish of Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis, chaplain of colleges and lyceums in the Marais quarter, pastor of the Notre-Dame-de-la-Gare parish, diocesan chaplain for the Mouvement des Cadres Chrétiens, dean of the Italie-La Gare pastoral sector, episcopal vicar of Paris for solidarity, diocesan chaplain of Secours Catholique, adjunct secretary and subsequently secretary general of the French Episcopal Conference, and episcopal vicar of Paris for Catholic hospitals. He is currently rector of the Pontifical French Seminary in Rome and titular canon of the Cathedral of Paris. In 2008 he was named Prelate of Honour of His Holiness.