Pierbattista Pizzaballa

Pierbattista Pizzaballa, born on April twenty-first, nineteen sixty-five, is a distinguished Italian member of the Franciscan Order and a prominent Catholic cardinal. He has been serving as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since November sixth, two thousand twenty. His journey in the Franciscan Order began in nineteen eighty-four, where he spent his novitiate at the revered Franciscan Shrine of La Verna in Arezzo, Italy.

After obtaining a diploma in classical studies from the Archiepiscopal Seminary of Ferrara and a bachelor's degree in theology from the Pontifical University Antonianum, Pizzaballa was ordained a priest in nineteen ninety. He then dedicated himself to the Holy Land, where he pursued biblical theology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum and later at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from nineteen ninety-five to nineteen ninety-nine, culminating in a PhD.

In nineteen ninety-nine, Pizzaballa joined the Franciscans at the Custody of the Holy Land, an institution founded in twelve seventeen by Saint Francis of Assisi. He was elected Custos of the Holy Land in two thousand four, overseeing Franciscans across Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and parts of Egypt. His leadership spanned twelve years, during which he was reelected twice, until two thousand sixteen.

In that year, he was ordained a bishop in Italy and appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem. By two thousand twenty, he ascended to the role of Latin Patriarch, leading Christianity's mother church in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, and Cyprus. In two thousand twenty-three, he was elevated to cardinal by Pope Francis, and he is regarded as a potential candidate for the papacy at the upcoming two thousand twenty-five conclave.