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Monsignor appointed auxiliary bishop

By Chris Quinn
July 28, 2009

Reflecting Atlanta’s growing Catholic population and its international flavor, Pope Benedict XVI named Monsignor Luis Rafael Zarama as auxiliary bishop of Atlanta on Monday.

Zarama was born and educated in Colombia. He was ordained as a priest in Atlanta in 1993 and served in pastoral and ecclesiastical positions. He became a U.S. citizen July 4, 2000.

The Archdiocese of Atlanta, which includes north Georgia, has about 750,000 Catholics. When Atlanta became an archdiocese in 1962, it had 32,000 Catholics.

Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory said, “I am deeply grateful to His Holiness for this appointment which so favorably responds to the growing pastoral needs of our burgeoning local church.”

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