Mgr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa is the new Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. The announcement was published this Saturday, October 24, by the Vatican Press Office, on the eve of the Feast of Our Lady Queen of Palestine. Mgr. Pizzaballa, originally from Bergamo in Italy, will be the tenth Patriarch, after the restoration in the mid 1800s, of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. It was June 21, 2008, when in the Basilica of Gethsemane, Bishop Michel Sabbah gave the Pastoral to Bishop Fouad Twal, elected Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. A large crowd of faithful came from all dioceses to bid farewell to the one who had been pastor and voice of the Christians of the Holy Land for twenty years. In 2016, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of His Beatitude Patriarch Fouad Twal, due to age limits, and appointed Br. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, former Custos of the Holy Land for twelve years, as Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, until the appointment of the new Patriarch. Elected in May 2004, Br. Pierbattista Pizzaballa was appointed Custos for a period of 6 years. He was then reconfirmed by the Minister of Friars Minor in May 2010 for a term of 3 years, and then for another 3 years. On September 10, 2016, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, ordained Br. Pizzaballa Archbishop. Mgr PIERBATTISTA PIZZABALLA,ofm "Sometimes I am asked about my future: what plans do I make? First of all, I am a monk, and like everyone else I make plans, but I am also a child of obedience, so I have to do obedience. I have given many obediences, and I have also obeyed a lot as Guardian, but the time will come when someone will tell me, as Jesus told Peter, where to go. It will also be my turn, and it is good that it is so." Almost 30 years of constant presence dedicated to the Holy Land. Read More