The Holy Father has:

- accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Kuching, Malaysia, presented by Bishop John Ha Tiong Hock. He is succeeded by Bishop Simon Poh Hoon Seng, auxiliary of the same diocese.

- appointed Mario Enrique Quirós Quirós as bishop of Cartago (area 4,500, population 416,734, Catholics 408,367, priests 98, permanent deacons 10, religious 204), Costa Rica. The bishop-elect was born in 1967 in Paraíso, Costa Rica, and was ordained a priest in 1994. He holds a licentiate in theology, specialising in priestly formation, from the Pontifical Bolivarian University of Medellín, Colombia. He has served in a number of pastoral roles, including deputy priest in the parish of Barbacoas de Puriscal and in the Cathedral of Cartago. He is currently formator and spiritual director of the national major seminary. He succeeds Bishop José Francisco Ulloa Rojas, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese was accepted by the Holy Father.

- appointed Bishop Gualtiero Sigismondi of Foligno, Italy, as general ecclesiastical assistant for Italian Catholic Action.