Russian Catholics to get new Apostolic Administrator

Pope Benedict XVI is to change the head of the Catholic Church in Moscow. According to the Milanese newspaper “Giornale”, Don Paolo Pezzi, a 45-year old Italian-born president of a seminary in St. Petersburg, will take the post.

He will replace Bishop Tadeush Kondrusevich, who has been assigned a job in the Belarus capital Minsk.

“Giornale” says the decision was approved by the Patriarch of Moscow. It is expected to be announced officially later this week.

The Roman Catholic Church in Russia has four dioceses. The head of the diocese of the Holy Virgin in Moscow, the Apostolic Administrator for the North of European Russia, also chairs the Catholic Bishops’ Conference.