Pope Names Bishop Emmanuel Challita as Bishop of Chaldean Eparchy in San Diego; and Bishop Frank Kalabat of Detroit as Apostolic Administrator of Eparchy in Toronto, Canada

WASHINGTON— Pope Francis has named Bishop EmmanuelChallita of the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Mar Addai of Toronto, Canada, asBishop of the Chaldean Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle in San Diego. Thepontiff also named Bishop Frank Kalabat of the Chaldean Eparchy of St. Thomasthe Apostle, Detroit, as the apostolic administrator of the Eparchy of MarAddai of Toronto.

The appointments were publicized inWashington, August 9, by Msgr. Walter Erbì, Chargé d' Affaires, at theApostolic Nunciature to the United States.

Emmanuel Challita was born in Fishkabour-Zakho,Iraq, in 1956. He holds a doctorate in biblical theology from the PontificalUrbanian University in Rome. He was ordained a priest of the Chaldean CatholicEparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle in 1984 and was ordained and installed asBishop of Mar Addai on February 6, 2015.

Frank Kalabat was born inKuwait in 1970, and moved to the United States in 1989. He began seminary studiesat St. Francis De Sales Center in San Diego, California, and pursuedtheological studies at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit. He was ordained apriest in 1995, and was ordained and installed as Bishop of the ChaldeanEparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle on June 14, 2014.

There are an estimated 38,000 Catholics inthe Eparchy of Mar Addai of Toronto.

There are an estimated 65,150 Catholics inthe Chaldean Eparchy of Saint Peter. The jurisdiction extends to the westernstates of the United States.

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Keywords:bishop appointment, Pope Francis, Bishop Emmanuel Challita, Chaldean Catholic,Eparchy of Mar Addai, Toronto, Bishop Frank Kalabat, Eparchy of St. Thomas theApostle, Detroit, Chaldean, Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle

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