Vatican Names New Dublin Archbishop

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, April 26 — Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, coadjutor archbishop of Dublin, Ireland, has been named archbishop of Dublin. He succeeds Cardinal Desmond Connell.

The Vatican announced the appointment April 26. Cardinal Connell, 78, submitted his resignation in 2001 at age 75 as required by Church law. Pope John Paul II just now accepted it.

“I am greatly looking forward to retirement,” the cardinal told reporters in Dublin, the wire service reported. “There will be a period of adjustment, but it will be good to have time to spend with family and friends, and to catch up on my reading.”

Before his appointment as archbishop in 1988, Cardinal Connell served as a professor of metaphysics at University College Dublin.

Archbishop Martin, 59, has served as the Pope's observer to the United Nations in Geneva. He was appointed to his Dublin post last year.

Church Leaders Weigh In on Philippine Elections

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, April 22 — Leaders of the Church in the Philippines are encouraging Catholics not to vote for inexperienced candidates in the May 10 election.

“Elections are a crucial moment in our continuing task of nation-building,” the country's bishops’ conference said in a letter April 22. “They're a timely opportunity to transform society by electing wise, capable and upright leaders.”

It is the “right and duty,” said conference president Archbishop Fernando Capalla in the letter, to “discern and choose candidates” based on their competence, conscience and program of government, the news service reported. The letter also asked Catholic voters to consider a candidate's commitment to issues including the family, the environment, illegal drugs and gambling, justice, peace and order, and poverty alleviation.

Current president Gloria Arroyo is seeking a full six-year term as president after serving three years as interim president. Her main rival is actor and high-school dropout Fernando Poe. In the campaign, Arroyo has dismissed Poe as an “inexperienced actor” with no government program.

According to the news service, as of April 22 Arroyo was slightly ahead in the polls for the six-way election.