His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, O.F.M., Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, was born in Cologno al Serio (BG) on 21 April 1965. He attended secondary school at the \u2018Le Grazie\u2019 Minor Seminary in Rimini and obtained his classical school-leaving certificate at the Archiepiscopal Seminary in Ferrara (June 1984). He entered the Order of Friars Minor on 5 September 1984 in Ferrara (S. Spirito) and spent his novitiate year at the Franciscan Sanctuary of La Verna (Arezzo, Italy). He made his temporary profession at La Verna on 7 September 1985. He made his Solemn Profession at the Church of St Anthony in Bologna on 10 October 1989. Also in Bologna, on 15 September 1990, he was ordained a priest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After spending some time in Rome, he moved to the Holy Land, to Jerusalem, in October 1990. Following his studies in philosophy and theology, he obtained a Licentiate in Biblical Theology from the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem. His Beatitude Pizzaballa speaks Italian, Modern Hebrew and English. In 1995, he edited the publication of the Roman Missal in Hebrew and translated various liturgical texts into Hebrew for the Catholic communities in Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 2 July 1999, he formally entered the service of the Custody of the Holy Land. He served as Vicar General to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem for the pastoral care of Hebrew-speaking Catholics in Israel. Since 2008, he has been a Consultor on the Commission for Relations with Judaism of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. He made his solemn entry at the Church of the Holy Saviour on 2 June 2004, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on 3 June 2004, in Bethlehem on 4 June 2004, and in Nazareth on 9 June of the same year. Pierbattista Pizzaballa was appointed Custos of the Holy Land for the first time in May 2004, for a term of six years. In May 2010, he was reappointed by the Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor for a further three-year term and, in June 2013, for a further three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 24 June 2016, His Holiness Pope Francis appointed Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa as Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the see being vacant, until the appointment of a new Patriarch, with the dignity of archbishop; at the same time, he was assigned the titular see of Verbe. On 15 July 2016, during the meeting of the College of Consultors of the Latin Patriarchate, His Beatitude Patriarch Emeritus Fouad Twal handed over his powers to Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who had been appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem in accordance with Pope Francis\u2019s decree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The episcopal ordination took place in September 2016 in Bergamo, Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On 24 October 2020, Pope Francis appointed Monsignor Pierbattista Pizzaballa as the new Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Created and proclaimed a Cardinal by Pope Francis in the Consistory of 30 September 2023, with the title of Sant\u2019Onofrio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He is a member of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":30959,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n