Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it gives me great joy to inform you that His Holiness Pope Francis, in view of the pastoral care of the Catholic faithful residing in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, has appointed Father Aldo BERARDI O.SS.T., currently Vicar General of the Order of the Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives (the Trinitarian Order), to succeed the late Bishop Camillo Ballin as the Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia.

Bishop-elect Berardi is well known to me and to the many priests and faithful in the Vicariate as an outstanding religious and priest. Born in 1963 in Longeville-lès-Metz (France), he made his profession as a Trinitarian in 1987, and was ordained a priest in 1991. After further studies in Rome, he was active in pastoral and charitable spheres in Italy, France, and Egypt. From 2007 to 2019 he has worked in the Vicariate of Northern Arabia. From 2019 to 2023 he served the Trinitarian Order as Vicar General in Rome. On 28th January 2023, His Holiness Pope Francis appointed him the new Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia in succession to Bishop Camillo Ballin, MCCJ, who passed away on 12th April 2020.

I am sure that the Vicariate of Northern Arabia will further grow under his pastoral guidance. The Apostolic Vicar-Elect Aldo BERARDI will be ordained to the episcopate at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia in Awali (Bahrain). The date of his episcopal ordination and installation will be communicated shortly. Until the Bishop-elect is ordained and takes possession of the episcopal see, I shall continue my mandate as Apostolic Administrator.

We receive Msgr. Aldo BERARDI with love and shall support him in his task as pastor of the multifaceted migrant Church in the Gulf. We bid him a hearty welcome and pray for him as he prepares to begin his ministry as shepherd to the faithful of the Vicariate of Northern Arabia.

Abu Dhabi, 28th January 2023

Bishop Paul Hinder OFM Cap
Apostolic Administrator