Sliema-born Bishop Peter Baldacchino has been appointed Bishop of Las Cruces, New Mexico, by Pope Francis.

The announcement was made in Washington by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.

Mgr Baldacchino was ordained a priest in Newark in 1996. He was named auxiliary bishop of Miami in 2014.

The Diocese of Las Cruces has a population of 558,454 of whom a quarter are Catholic.

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