Pierbattista Pizzaballa

Birthday April 21, 1965

Birth Sign Taurus

Birthplace Cologno al Serio, Italy

Age 58 years old

Nationality Italy

#52004 Most Popular

1965

Pierbattista Pizzaballa (born 21 April 1965) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since 6 November 2020.

A Franciscan friar, he served as Custos of the Holy Land from 2004 to 2016, Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate from 2016 to 2020, and was made a cardinal by Pope Francis on 30 September 2023.

Pierbattista Pizzaballa was born in Cologno al Serio, Bergamo, son of Pietro and Maria Maddalena Tadini.

1984

He entered the Franciscan minor seminary in Bologna in September 1976 and on 5 September 1984 entered their novitiate in La Verna.

1985

He made his first vows there on 7 September 1985 and his perpetual vows in Bologna on 4 October 1989.

1990

He earned his bachelor's degree in theology at the Pontifical University Antonianum and was ordained a priest on 15 September 1990, in the Cathedral of Bologna by Cardinal Giacomo Biffi.

He obtained his diploma in classical studies at the Archiepiscopal Seminary of Ferrara.

1993

He studied in Biblical Theology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem in 1993 and then taught biblical Hebrew at the Franciscan Faculty of Biblical Science and Archeology in Jerusalem.

Besides his native Italian, Pizzaballa speaks Hebrew and English.

1995

After completing his postgraduate studies, Pizzabella taught Biblical Hebrew at the Franciscan Faculty of Biblical and archaeological sciences in Jerusalem, was responsible for the publication of the Roman Missal in Hebrew in 1995, and translated liturgical texts in Hebrew.

1999

He joined the Franciscans working at the Custody of the Holy Land in July 1999 and was responsible for the pastoral care of Hebrew-speaking Catholics.

2001

On 9 May 2001, he was appointed Superior of the Convent of Saints Simeon and Anna in Jerusalem.

2004

He was Custos of the Holy Land, that is, head of the Franciscan priory known as the Custody of the Holy Land, from May 2004 to April 2016, having been elected to a six-year term in May 2004, re-elected to a three-year term in March 2010, and reconfirmed for another three-year term in 2013.

2005

From 2005 to 2008 he served as Patriarchal Vicar.

2008

In 2008 he was appointed a Consultor in the commission for relations with Judaism of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

2014

In June 2014 Pope Francis entrusted Pizzaballa with organizing the peace prayer in the Vatican gardens, which brought together Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

2016

On 24 June 2016, Pope Francis nominated Pizzaballa as Apostolic Administrator sede vacante of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and appointed him titular archbishop of Verbe.

On 10 September 2016 he was consecrated by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Archbishop Fouad Twal, and Bishop Francesco Beschi in the Bergamo Cathedral.

The appointment of an Italian broke with tradition, as such posts are normally assigned to members of the ethnic group they predominantly serve, such as his immediate predecessors (a Palestinian and Jordanian respectively).

In 2016, Pizzaballa joined the Order of the Holy Sepulchre and became its Pro Grand Prior, and then Grand Prior upon appointment as Latin Patriarch.

2017

On 31 May 2017 he was appointed a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

2020

On 24 October 2020, Pizzaballa was appointed Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem by Pope Francis.

He leads the Board of Directors of Caritas Jerusalem.

On 9 July 2023, Pope Francis announced he planned to create him a cardinal at a consistory scheduled for 30 September 2023.

At that consistory, he was made cardinal priest of Sant'Onofrio, the official church of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

Pizzaballa is critical of Israel's construction of a barrier between the West Bank and Jerusalem.

On 16 October 2023, he condemned Hamas actions as barbaric and offered himself as a hostage in exchange for captive Israeli children held in Gaza during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.

Pizzaballa has advocated for an end to the 2023 Israel–Hamas War and the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Pizzaballa was a signatory to the "Statement on the Escalating Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza" which condemned attacks on civilians, called for de-escalation and called for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.

His statement was criticized by Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen.

On his visit to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve 2023, Pizzaballa donned a Palestinian keffiyeh and expressed a desire for peace in the region.

He cosigned the Christmas message released by the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem advocating Christians to refrain from public celebration of the holiday in solidarity with those effected by the war.