Fouad Twal (; born 23 October 1940 in Madaba,

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

) is a Jordanian Catholic prelate who served as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem 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 ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

. In 1972 he entered the

Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University (; ), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. The university ...

where he studied for a doctorate in

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

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

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

territorial prelature A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

on 30 May 1992. He was consecrated to the episcopate on 22 July later that year by principal consecrator Patriarch

Michel Sabbah Michel Sabbah (; born 19 March 1933) is a Catholic Church in Palestine, Palestinian Catholic prelate who served as the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from 1987 to 2008, the first non-Italian to hold the position in m ...

. On 31 May 1995, Pope John Paul II gave the Tunis territorial prelature diocesan status, creating the Diocese of Tunis, and appointed as Twal was made an archbishop ''ad personam''. In 2005,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

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 Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and ...

on 21 June 2008 and was enthroned Jerusalem's

Church of the Holy Sepulchre The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the Church of the Resurrection, is a fourth-century church in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem. The church is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchat ...

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 metropolitan bish ...

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. In June 2016

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

accepted Twal's resignation as patriarch.

Additional positions

* Grand Prior 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 *member of the following

dicastery A dicastery (; ; from ) is the name of some departments in the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest C ...

of the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

** Congregation for the Oriental Churches ** 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 bishops in Israel Territorial prelates Diplomats for the Holy See Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Pontifical Lateran University alumni Roman Catholic archbishops of Tunis Latin Patriarchs of Jerusalem Grand Priors of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XVI People from Madaba Governorate Members of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit (Portugal)

Biography

Additional positions

Gallery

See also

References