Fouad Twal ( ar, البطريرك فؤاد طوال; born 23 October 1940 in

Madaba Madaba ( ar, مادبا; Biblical Hebrew: ''Mēḏəḇāʾ''; grc, Μήδαβα) is the capital city of Madaba Governorate in central Jordan, with a population of about 60,000. It is best known for its Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics, especi ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

) is a Jordanian Catholic prelate who served as

Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem ( la, Patriarchatus Latinus Hierosolymitanus) is the Latin Catholic ecclesiastical patriarchate in Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was originally established in 1099, wi ...

from 2008 to 2016. He has also served as the Grand Prior of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and President for the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land.

Biography

Fouad Twal was ordained to the priesthood on 29 June 1966. After his ordination he was the vicar of

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerus ...

. In 1972 he entered the

Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University ( it, Pontificia Università Lateranense; la, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Pont ...

where he studied for a doctorate in

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is t ...

, which he was awarded in 1975. He was appointed the

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

of the territorial prelature of

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

on 30 May 1992. He was consecrated to the

episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

on 22 July later that year by principal consecrator Patriarch

Michel Sabbah Michel Sabbah ( ar, ميشيل صباح; born 19 March 1933) is a Palestinian Catholic prelate who served as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1987 to 2008, the first non-Italian to hold the position in more than five centuries. Biography Sa ...

. On 31 May 1995, Pope John Paul II gave the Tunis territorial prelature diocesan status, creating the

Diocese of Tunis , local = ar, أبرشية تونسfrench: Archidiocèse de Tunis , image = , image_size = frameless , image_alt = , caption = , coat = , coat_size = , coat_alt ...

, and appointed as Twal was made an archbishop ''ad personam''. In 2005,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

named him the coadjutor archbishop-patriarch of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem; he succeeded

as the

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in c ...

on 21 June 2008 and was enthroned Jerusalem's

Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hy, Սուրբ Հարության տաճար, la, Ecclesia Sancti Sepulchri, am, የቅዱስ መቃብር ቤተክርስቲያን, he, כנסיית הקבר, ar, كنيسة القيامة is a church i ...

the next day. A week later, he received the

pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : ''pallia'') is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropol ...

from the hands of Pope Benedict XVI at a Mass in Rome's Basilica of Saint Peter. In 2008, he explained his understanding of the situation of Israel and the Palestinian Territories and their people: "We receive a lot of help and we are grateful but at the same time we say we need more. What we need is peace. We don’t only want to be a begging Church, we don't want to be beggars with a licence. I don't like this. We need a political horizon, it's time to put an end to the Wall, the Checkpoints, it's time for a Palestinian State, it's time for an end to our problems with visas." On 19 February 2014 he was appointed a member of the

Congregation for the Oriental Churches The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches (also called Dicastery for the Oriental Churches), previously named Congregation for the Oriental Churches or Congregation for the Eastern Churches ( la, Congregatio pro Ecclesiis Orientalibus), is a dicaste ...

. In June 2016

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013 ...

accepted Twal's resignation as patriarch.

Additional positions

Grand Prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be lowe ...

of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem *President ''ex officio'' of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land *President ''ex officio'' of the Conference of Latin Bishops of the Arab Regions *member,

Council of Catholic Patriarchs of the East The Council of Catholic Patriarchs of the Orient ( French: Conseil des Patriarches Catholiques d'Orient, CPCO) is an agency of the Catholic Church that meets the patriarchs of Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. Permanen ...

*member of the following

dicastery A dicastery (from gr, δικαστήριον, dikastērion, law-court, from δικαστής, 'judge, juror') is the name of some departments of the Roman Curia. ''Pastor bonus'' ''Pastor bonus'' (1988), includes this definition: ''Praed ...

of the Roman Curia **

** Pontifical Council for the Family

Gallery

File:BISHOP patriarc twal sep 20th 2009.JPG, Patriarch Twal in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twal, Fouad 1940 births Living people 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Tunisia 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Jordan Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Latin Patriarchs of Jerusalem People from Madaba Governorate Territorial prelates Members of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre

Biography

Additional positions

Gallery

See also

References