VATICAN CITY, JULY 27, 2003 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II appointed Monsignor Paulin Pomodino, the leading promoter of peace in the Central African Republic, archbishop of Bangui, the capital.
Monsignor Pomodino, 49, who until now was bishop of Bossangoa, is also president of the country’s Episcopal Conference. He had been appointed by former President Ange-Felix Patasse, coordinator of the «National Dialogue.»
The new archbishop is replacing Monsignor Joachim N’Dayen, who handed in his resignation to the Holy Father for reasons of health, having to be absent from the country for months to receive treatment in France.
Following the coup d’Etat of General François Bozize, the country’s Episcopal Conference condemned the unconstitutional character of the coup and the violence that made it possible, and proposed a national dialogue as the only solution for the future and to avoid new episodes of violence.
Of the total of 3.8 million inhabitants in the Central African Republic, 21.4% is Catholic.
