Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Holy Father Benedict XVI appointed today, May 24, Archbishop Henryk Hoser, S.A.C. as Archbishop of Warsaw-Praga (Poland), remaining Archbishop. Until now, Archbishop Hoser served as Secretary Adjunct of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and President of the Pontifical Mission Societies.
Archbishop Henryk Hoser, S.A.C. was born in Warsaw on November 27, 1942. After having graduated from high school, he attended the Warsaw University of Medicine where he obtained his degree in 1966 and was appointed assistant to the Warsaw University of Medicine academy. In 1969 he entered the Society for the Catholic Apostolate (Pallottine Fathers), where on June 16, 1974 he was ordained a priest. From 1975-1995, he served as a missionary in Rwanda, where he carried out various ministries in pastoral care. In 1978, he founded a Medical-Social Center in Kigali, overseeing it for 17 years. He also founded the Center for Family Action program. He is co-founder and secretary of the African Federation of Family Action, begun in 2001.
For several years, he served as Secretary of the Bishops’ Commission for Health Pastoral and then of the Bishops’ Commission for the Family, president of the Association of Medical Centres in Kigali (BUFMAR), and head of programs to monitor AIDS. In Rwanda, he was SAC Regional Superior and also president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in Rwanda (COSUMA) for 10 years. In 1994, in the absence of the Papal Nuncio in Rwanda, the Holy See appointed him Apostolic Visitor to that country for two years pending the appointment of a new Nuncio. From 1996 to 2003 he was SAC Regional Superior and member of the Missionary Council of the Conference of Major Superiors in France.
On January 22, 2005, he was appointed Secretary Adjunct of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and President of the Pontifical Mission Societies, and raised to the dignity of Archbishop. He was ordained a Bishop on March 19, 2005.
The Holy Father Benedict XVI appointed Monsignor Piergiuseppe Vacchelli, of the clergy of the Diocese of Cremona, until now Undersecretary of the Italian Bishops’ Conference and President of the Committee for Charitable Services for Third World Nations. He will be at the same time elevated to the dignity of Archbishop, of the Titular See of Minturno.
Monsignor Piergiuseppe Vacchelli was born in Longardore di Sospiro (CR) on February 4, 1937. From 1948 to 1961, he attended the Minor and Major Seminaries of the Diocese of Cremona, being ordained a priest on May 27, 1961. From late 1961 until Fall of 1963, he served as a priest in the Parish of San Giovanni in Croce. In 1963, he was sent to Rome to study Canon Law at the Gregorian University, where he earned his Licentiate and returned to his diocese in 1967. That year, he was assigned to work in the Parish of San Pietro in Cremona, as well as Diocesan Assistant for the Adult Sector of Catholic Action. In 1973, he was appointed Secretary of Bishop Amari as well as placed in charge of the Episcopal Chancellery, where he remained until 1986. From 1976 to 1990, he worked as Diocesan Assistant of Catholic Action. In 1986, he was appointed Pro-Vicar General of the Diocese and from 1990-1993 served as Secretary General of the Diocesan Synod. In 1993, he was appointed Pastor and Canon of the Cremona Cathedral.
Over the years, he has taught Canon Law in the Diocesan Seminary, as well as Religion and Language in the Scuola Magistrale Parificata, run by the Religious Institute of Sons of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Since October 1996, he has served as the Undersecretary of the Italian Bishops’ Conference and President of the Committee for Charitable Services for Third World Nations. In addition to Italian, he is fluent in French, Spanish, and English. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 24/5/2008; righe 52, parole 645)
