ROME, NOV. 23, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Bishop Séamus Hegarty of Derry, Ireland, who requested an early retirement due to ill health.
The Vatican announced his retirement today.
Bishop Hegarty, 71, explained on the diocese Web site that he has “a health condition which has been assessed to render me unable to fulfill the obligations of my office as diocesan bishop.”
Angola
The Vatican also announced that Father Pio Hipunyati, 47, of the clergy of Ondjiva, Angola, has been named the bishop of that diocese. He succeeds Bishop Fernando Guimarães Kevanu, 75.
Bishop-designate Hipunyati had been serving as a Latin professor at the seminary in Omupanda.
He was born in Ounonge, Angola, in 1964 and ordained in 1998.
The Diocese of Ondjiva has just over 1 million residents, more than half of whom are Catholic. They are served by some 35 priests and 65 religious.
