Vatican City, 31 January 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has ratified the appointment of the following prelates as members and substitutes, elected by their respective Episcopal Conferences, for the 14th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will take place in the Vatican from 4 to 25 October 2015 on the theme “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world”:

 

AFRICA

BURUNDI

Member: Bishop Gervais Bashimiyubusa, of Ngozi, president of the Episcopal Conference.

Substitute: Bishop Joachim Ntahondereye of Muyinga.

 

ETHIOPIA and ERITREA

Member: Bishop Tsegaye Keneni Derera, apostolic vicar of Soddo, Ethiopia.

Substitute: Bishop Markos Gebremedhin, C.M., apostolic vicar of Jimma-Bonga, Ethiopia.

 

GHANA

Member: Archbishop Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle, of Accra.

Substitute: Bishop Anthony Kwami Adanuty of Keta-katsi.

 

KENYA

Members: Cardinal John Njue, archbishop of Nairobi, president of the Episcopal Conference.

Bishop James Maria Wainaina Kungu of Muranga.

Substitute: Bishop Emanuel Barbara, O.F.M. Cap. of Malindi.

 

MADAGASCAR

Member: Bishop Desire Tsarahazana of Toamasina, president of the Episcopal Conference.

Substitute: Bishop Jean de Dieu Raoelison, auxiliary of Antananarivo.

 

RWANDA

Member: Bishop Antoine Kambanda of Kibungo.

Substitute: Bishop Smaragde Mbonyintege of Kabgayi, president of the Episcopal Conference.

 

AMERICA

 

ARGENTINA

Members: Bishop Pedro María Laxague, auxiliary of Bahia Blanca.

Archbishop Jose Maria Arancedo of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz, president of the Episcopal Conference.

Cardinal Mario Aurelio Poli, archbishop of Buenos Aires.

Substitutes: Archbishop Andres Stanovnik, O.F.M. Cap. of Corrientes.

Archbishop Hector Ruben Aguer of La Plata.

 

CHILE

Members: Bishop Bernardo Miguel Bastres Florence, S.D.B. of Punta Arenas.

Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, S.D.B., archbishop of Santiago de Chile, president of the Episcopal Conference.

Substitute: Bishop Cristian Contreras Villarroel of Melipilla, general secretary of the Episcopal Conference.

 

CUBA

Member: Archbishop Juan de la Caridad Garcia Rodriguez of Camaguey.

Substitute: Bishop Marcelo Arturo Gonzalez Amador of Santa Clara.

 

ECUADOR

Members: Archbishop Antonio Arregui Yarza of Guayaquil.

Archbishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, O.F.M. of Cuenca.

Substitutes: Bishop Julio Parrilla Diaz of Riobamba.

Bishop Marcos Aurelio Perez Caicedo of Babahoyo, vice president of the Episcopal Conference.

 

HONDURAS

Member: Bishop Luis Sole Fa, C.M. of Trujillo.

Substitute: Bishop Angel Garachana Perez, C.M.F. of San Pedro Sula.

 

MEXICO

Members: Bishop Rodrigo Aguilar Martinez of Tehuacan.

Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, archbishop of Mexico.

Bishop Francisco Javier Chavolla Ramos of Toluca.

Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega, archbishop of Guadalajara, president of the Episcopal Conference.

 

Substitutes: Bishop Alfonso Gerardo Miranda Guardiola, auxiliary of Monterrey.

Bishop Jose Francisco Gonzalez Gonzalez of Campeche.

 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Members: Archbishop Joseph Edward Kurtz of Louisville, president of the Episcopal Conference.

Archbishop Charles Joseph Chaput, O.F.M. Cap. of Philadelphia.

Cardinal Daniel N. Di Nardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, vice president of the Episcopal Conference.

Archbishop Jose Horacio Gomez of Los Angeles.

 

Substitutes: Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Spokane.

Archbishop Salvatore Joseph Cordileone of San Francisco.

 

URUGUAY

Member: Bishop Jaime Rafael Fuentes Martin of Minas.

Substitute:Bishop Rodolfo Pedro Wirz Kraemer of Maldonado-Punta del Este, president of the Episcopal Conference.

 

ASIA

 

PAKISTAN

Member: Bishop Joseph Arshad of Faisalabad.

Substitute: Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw of Lahore.

 

VIETNAM

Members: Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc of Thanh-Pho Ho Chi Minh, Hochiminh Ville, president of the Episcopal Conference.

Bishop Joseph Dinh Duc Dao, auxiliary of Xuan Loc.

Substitute: Bishop Pierre Nguyen Van Kham of My Tho.

 

EUROPA

 

ALBANIA

Member: Bishop George Frendo, O.P. Auxiliary of Tirane-Durres.

Substitute: Bishop Ottavio Vitale, R.C.I. of Lezhe, Lesh.

 

AUSTRIA

Member: Bishop Benno Elbs of Feldkirch.

Substitute: Bishop Kalus Kung of Sankt Polten.

 

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA

Member: Bishop Tomo Vuksic, military ordinary of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Substitute: Bishop Marko Semren, O.F.M. auxiliary of Banja Luka.

 

FRANCE

Members: Archbishop Georges Pontier of Marseille, president of the Episcopal Conference.

Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, archbishop Paris.

Bishop Jean-Luc Brunin of Le Havre.

Bishop Jean-Paul James of Nantes.

Substitutes: Bishop Olivier de Germay of Ajaccio.

Bishop Bruno Feillet, auxiliary of Reims.

 

GREAT BRITAIN (ENGLAND AND WALES)

Members: Cardinal Vincent Gerard Nichols, archbishop of Westminster, president of the Episcopal Conference.

Bishop Peter John Haworth Doyle of Northampton.

Substitute: Bishop Philip Anthony Egan of Portsmouth.

 

GREECE

Member: Bishop Fragkiskos Papamanolis, O.F.M. Cap. emeritus of Syros, president of the Episcopal Conference.

Substitute: Archbishop Nikolaos Foskolos, emeritus of Athenai.

 

IRELAND

Members: Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin.

Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, president of the Episcopal Conference.

Substitute: Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, S.M.A. of Cashel.

 

LITHUANIA

Members: Cardinal Audrys Jouzas Backis, archbishop emeritus of Vilnius.

Substitute: Bishop Rimantas Norvila of Vilkaviskis.

 

NETHERLANDS

Member: Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk, archbishop of Utrecht.

Substitute: Bishop Johannes Wilhelmus Maria Liesen of Breda.

 

SPAIN

Members: Cardinal Ricardo Blazquez Perez, archbishop of Valladolid, president of the Episcopal Conference.

Bishop Mario Iceta Gavicagogeascoa of Bilbao.

Archbishop Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid.

Substitute: Bishop Juan Antonio Reig Pla of Alcala de Henares.

 

OCEANIA

AUSTRALIA

Members: Bishop Daniel Eugene Hurley of Darwin.

Archbishop Mark Benedict Coleridge of Brisbane.

Substitute: Archbishop Philip Edward Wilson of Adelaide.

 

NEW ZEALAND

Member: Bishop Charles Edward Drennan of Palmerston North.

Substitute: Cardinal John Atcherley Dew, archbishop of Wellington, president of the Episcopal Conference.