John Paul II appointed Bishop Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal of Zipaquira, 61, to the new post, the Vatican press office announced today.
Bishop Jiménez Carvajal is a former president of the Latin American bishops’ council, CELAM. He has headed the Zipaquira Diocese since 1992.
In November 2002 he was kidnapped for a few days by the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). He was released in a military operation of the Colombian army.
A few months earlier, FARC had been accused of the murder of Archbishop Isaías Duarte Cancino of Cali.
At least 57 Catholic representatives, including bishops, priests, women religious, and seminarians, have been killed in Colombia over the past decade.
Archbishop Carlos José Ruiseco Vieira, 68, leads the Cartagena Archdiocese, whose 1.18 million inhabitants include 1 million Catholics.
