Man of dialogue and peace, he has been in the Holy Land since 1990
MADRID, 6 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, has been in the Holy Land since 1990, where he currently faces the war conflict between Hamas and Israel. In 2023 it was offered to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in exchange for the release of the children he maintained as hostages, he has called for peace and to find “a communication channel between the two parties to find solutions for the release of hostages on the one hand and the high fire on the other.” It is one of the Italian wandering that sounds to happen to Francisco in the conclave that starts this Wednesday, May 7.
On the war in the Middle East, in August 2024, Cardinal Italian warned that “hatred, resentment and contempt only increase violence and move away the possibility of finding solutions.” In his message for the solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, he expressed his “pain for a terrible war” that has caused sufferings and dismay.
“It is increasingly difficult to imagine a conclusion of this conflict, whose impact on the life of our populations is the highest and most painful of all time,” said the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, who dated that August 15, solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, as one of the days that “seem important to achieve the conflict.”
Man of dialogue and peace, in February 2024 he visited Spain, where he concelebrated a Mass for Peace in the Basilica of the Sagrada Família de Barcelona with Cardinal Archbishop of Barcelona, Juan José Omella. Both officiated the Mass to pray for peace in the Holy Land and for the people who live in places at war.
The Purpurado, 60 years old, was born in Cologno al Serious (Bergamo, Italy) on April 21, 1965 and studied high school and the Le Grazie Seminar in Rimini and obtained his Baccalaureate diploma at the Archbishop’s Seminary in Ferrara, in June 1984.
-He entered the order of the smaller friars on September 5, 1984 in Ferrara (Santo Spirito) and spent the year of novitiate in the Franciscan Sanctuary of La Verna (Arezzo, Italy). He made his provisional votes in Verna on September 7, 1985. In Bologna, in the church of San Antonio, he cast his solemn votes on October 10, 1989 and was ordered priest on September 15, 1990.
After a stay in Rome, he moved to the Holy Land, Jerusalem, in October 1990. After his philosophical and theological studies, he obtained a degree in Biblical Theology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem. Pizzaballa speaks Italian, modern and English. In 1995, he published the publication of the Roman Missal in Hebrew and has translated various liturgical texts into Hebrew for the Catholic communities of Israel.
On July 2, 1999, he formally entered the service of the Custody of the Holy Land. He held the position of Vicar General of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem for the pastoral care of Hebrew Language Catholics in Israel.
Since 2008, he is the consultant of the Commission for Relations with the Jews of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the Unity of Christians. He made his solemn entrance in San Salvador on June 2, 2004, in the Holy Sepulcher on June 3, 2004, in Bethlehem on June 4, 2004 and in Nazareth on June 9 of the same year.
Pierbattista Pizzaballa was appointed custodian of the Holy Land for the first time in May 2004, for a period of six years. In May 2010 he was reconfirmed by the General Minister of the Order of the Minor Frailes for a new three -year term, and in June 2013 for the following three years.
On June 24, 2016, Pope Francis appointed Pizzaballa Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchy of Jerusalem with vacant headquarters, until the appointment of a new patriarch. On July 15, 2016, during the meeting of the Latin Patriarchy Consultant College, Patriarch Emeritus Fouz Twal proceeded to transfer its powers to the Pierbattista Archbishop Pizzaballa, who was appointed apostolic administrator of the Latin patriarchy of Jerusalem, according to Decree of Pope Francis.
Episcopal ordination took place in September 2016 in Bérgamo (Italy) and on October 24, 2020 Francisco appointed him the new Latin patriarch of Jerusalem. Cardinal was created and proclaimed by the Pope in the Consistory of September 30, 2023, with the title of San Onofrio. He is a member of the Dicasteries for the Eastern Churches and for the promotion of the Unity of Christians.
