Wednesday, Dec. 23:

Appointed as consultors of the Pontifical Council of Culture for a five-year period:

•Archbishop Giuseppe Pittau, secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education.

•Bishop Maurice Gaidon of Cahors, France, president of the Comite Episcopal Art, Culture et Foi.

•Msgr. Michal Heller, rector of the Theological Institute of Tarnow, Poland, and member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

•Msgr. Bruno Forte, member of the International Theological Commission, Italy.

•Msgr. Werner Freistetter, director of the Institut für Religion und Frieden beim Militärbischofsamt of Vienna, Austria.

•Msgr. Pierre Gaudette, member of the International Theological Commission, Canada.

•Msgr. Sergio Lanza, dean of the Pastoral Institute of the Pontifical Lateran University.

•Judith Frances Champs, lecturer in Church History at Oscott College, diocesan seminary of Birmingham, Great Britain.

•Gilles Deliance, director of the Centre Catholique International pour l'UNESCO, France.

•Manuel Díaz Cid, lecturer in History at the Catholic University of Puebla, Mexico.

•Father Jean Mbarga, rector of the Seminary of Yaounde, Cameroon.

•Yoshio Oyanagi, lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Tokyo, Japan.

•Father Marko Rupnik SJ, lecturer at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, director of the Ezio Aletti Studies and Research Center, Rome.

Thursday, Dec. 24:

•Appointed Father Giuseppe Carnevale OMI as head official of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

Tuesday, Dec. 29:

•Elevated the territorial prelature of Tibu, Colombia, to the rank of diocese; nominated as the first Bishop of Tibu, Bishop Jose de Jesus Quintero Diaz.

•Elevated the territorial prelature Alto Sinu, Colombia, to the rank of diocese, with the new name of Montelibano; named as first Bishop of Montelibano, Bishop Julio Cesar Vidal Ortiz.

Wednesday, Dec. 30:

•Erected the diocese of Ourinhos, Brazil. Nominated as first Bishop of the diocese of Ourinhos, Father Salvatore Paruzzo, a priest of the diocese of Caltanissetta, Italy.