WASHINGTON— Pope Francis has named Bishop Emmanuel
Challita of the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Mar Addai of Toronto, Canada, as
Bishop of the Chaldean Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle in San Diego. The
pontiff also named Bishop Frank Kalabat of the Chaldean Eparchy of St. Thomas
the Apostle, Detroit, as the apostolic administrator of the Eparchy of Mar
Addai of Toronto.

The appointments were publicized in
Washington, August 9, by Msgr. Walter Erbì, Chargé d’ Affaires, at the
Apostolic Nunciature to the United States.

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

Frank Kalabat was born in
Kuwait in 1970, and moved to the United States in 1989. He began seminary studies
at St. Francis De Sales Center in San Diego, California, and pursued
theological studies at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit. He was ordained a
priest in 1995, and was ordained and installed as Bishop of the Chaldean
Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle on June 14, 2014.

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

There are an estimated 65,150 Catholics in
the Chaldean Eparchy of Saint Peter. The jurisdiction extends to the western
states 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 the
Apostle, Detroit, Chaldean, Eparchy of Saint Peter the Apostle

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Norma Montenegro Flynn
O: 202-541-3200

Source:: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops