Pierbattista Pizzaballa

Pierbattista Pizzaballa (; also Petrus Battista Pizzaballa; born 21 April 1965 in Italy) is part of the Order of Friars Minor (commonly called Franciscans) founded by Francis of Assisi and a Catholic cardinal who has been serving as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since 2020.

After being received into the Franciscan Order, he spend his novitiate at the Franciscan Shrine of La Verna in Arezzo, Italy. In 1990, he was called to service in the Holy Land, specifically Jerusalem. Having obtained his diploma in classical studies at the Archiepiscopal Seminary of Ferrara, in Jerusalem, he went on to study Biblical Theology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum and taught biblical Hebrew at the Franciscan Faculty of Biblical Science and Archeology in Jerusalem.

From 2004 to 2016, as a leading Franciscan, he was elected and reelected twice as the Custos of the Holy Land, the head of the Franciscans watching over the Holy Places. In 1342, the Franciscans were officially declared by two papal bulls as the Catholic Church's custodians of the Holy Places. The title of Custos goes back to the Custody of the Holy Land founded in 1217 by Saint Francis of Assisi as a province of the Holy Land.

In 2016, he was appointed as the Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem and in 2020 became the Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem, the head of Christianity's mother church. Three years later, in 2023, he was made a cardinal by Pope Francis. Following Francis' death, he was considered ''papabile'' (a possible candidate to be elected pope by the College of Cardinals) at the 2025 papal conclave despite his relatively young age.

Early life and education

Pierbattista Pizzaballa was born in Cologno al Serio, Bergamo, son of Pietro Pizzaballa and Maria Maddalena Tadini. He has two brothers and is the nephew of Pierluigi Pizzaballa, a former professional Italian football player (goalkeeper).

Growing up in the small hamlet of Castel Liteggio, Pizzaballa witnessed a "simple and authentic" lifestyle which he describes with the following words: "It was a simple and genuine world, and a sober and happy life." Motivated by a desire to be like a much-loved local priest, Don Pèrsec, Pizzaballa felt a vocation to be a priest already as a child at the age of nine. In September 1976, he entered the Franciscan Le Grazie minor seminary in Rimini at the age of 11 and eight years later, in September 1984, the Franciscan novitiate in La Verna. He made his first vows there on September 7, 1985, and his perpetual vows in Bologna on October 4, 1989. He was ordained a priest on September 15, 1990, in the Cathedral of Bologna by Cardinal Giacomo Biffi.

Pizzaballa obtained his diploma in classical studies at the Archiepiscopal Seminary of Ferrara and went on to earn his bachelor's degree in theology at the Pontifical University Antonianum. As a 25-year-old priest he was send to the Holy Land where he studied Biblical Theology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem and learned biblical as well as modern Hebrew. Besides his native Italian, Pizzaballa today speaks Hebrew, Latin, English, and Arabic.

He was then sent to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1995 to 1999 to deepen his understanding of Jewish religious thought where he was the only Christian studying Scripture at that time but said it was “very interesting” because it was the first time that he found himself in a “non-Christian context.” In 1998, he became assistant professor of Biblical Hebrew and Judaism at the Franciscan Faculty of Biblical and Archaeological Sciences in Jerusalem and the Studium Theologicum Jerosolymitanum. He was responsible for the translation of the Roman Missal into Hebrew and its publication in 1995. He also translated liturgical texts into Hebrew.

Presbyterate

In July 1999, Pizzaballa joined the Franciscans working at the Custody of the Holy Land and was entrusted with the pastoral care of Hebrew-speaking Catholics. On May 9, 2001, he was appointed Superior of the Convent of Saints Simeon and Anna in Jerusalem and from 2005 to 2008 he served as Patriarchal Vicar.

He was Custos of the Holy Land (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.

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

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. Pizzaballa criticized Israel's construction of a barrier between the West Bank and Jerusalem and participated in protests against it in 2015. He also, before becoming a bishop, criticized Palestinian leaders for blaming all problems on the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.

Episcopate

Titular Archbishop of Verbe

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. His unsually long interim tenure reflected the internal tensions between the traditional Arab-centered Patriarchate and supporters of the expansion of its pastoral care towards Israeli society. 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 his appointment as Latin Patriarch. On 31 May 2017 he was appointed a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

On 24 October 2020, Pizzaballa was appointed Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem by Pope Francis. He leads the board of directors of Caritas Jerusalem.

Cardinal

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.

He has advocated for an end to the Gaza 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. In response, Pizzaballa condemned Hamas' actions as barbaric and offered himself as a hostage in exchange for captive Israeli children held in Gaza during the Gaza war.

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 affected by the war.

2025 papal conclave

After the death of Pope Francis, he was considered ''papabile'', or a likely candidate to be made Pope at the 2025 papal conclave. Analysts believe his international expertise and tendency to stay away from divisive doctrinal issues may have aided his chances, but his relatively young age could have made him being chosen as Pope unlikely. Cardinal Robert Prevost was eventually chosen as Pope, taking the name Leo XIV. After the conclave ended, the Italian newspaper ''Il Giornale'' reported that the possibility of a Pizzaballa papacy was judged as too political by the cardinals, due to his presence in the Jerusalem area.

Positions

In the leadup to the 2025 papal conclave, it was described that Pizzaballa had not stated clear positions on many contentious issues within the Catholic Church. According to Crux, a newspaper focusing on the Catholic Church, Pizzaballa's stances on things like "the blessing of people in same-sex unions or the ordination of women deacons resomething of a mystery."

Arab–Israel conflict

Pizzaballa upholds the Catholic view of the Arab–Israel conflict, advocating for an end to the Gaza war and the occupation of Palestine by the people and government of Israel, and donned a Palestinian keffiyeh in the City of Bethlehem on 2023's Christmas Eve. He believes that it has been "a watershed in interreligious dialogue, which can never be the same as before, at least between Christians, Muslims, and Jews."

Pizzaballa is supportive of interfaith dialogue, noting that efforts such as Francis' 2020 encyclical ''Fratelli tutti'' have an "enormous impact" on Arab public consciousness even if they are not widely read. Pizzaballa has also made a concerted effort to show solidarity with the Orthodox community in Israel, especially in the context of the ongoing war.

Traditional Latin Mass

Pizzaballa has expressed some support for the Traditional Latin Mass, the liturgy that was largely replaced by the Mass of Paul VI, but still remains popular among some in Catholicism.

Other

During his tenure as head of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, the organization put out a statement denouncing the "mockery of the mystery of the mysteries in Christianity" during the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.

Honors and recognition

* : Grand Prior and Knight of the Collar of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
* : Conventual Chaplain Grand Cross ad honorem
* : Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy
* Supreme Taxiarch of the Greek Orthodox Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre

See also

* Cardinals created by Francis

References

External links

Pizzaballa Card. Pierbattista, O.F.M.
Holy See Press Office
Archived
from the original on 1 October 2023

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pizzaballa, Pierbattista
Living people
1965 births
21st-century Italian Roman Catholic titular archbishops
Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
Latin Patriarchs of Jerusalem
Grand Priors of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
Custodians of the Holy Land
Members of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
Clergy from the Province of Bergamo
Italian Friars Minor
Italian translators
Franciscan bishops
Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni
Bishops appointed by Pope Francis
Cardinals created by Pope Francis
Franciscan cardinals
21st-century Italian cardinals
Latin–Hebrew translators
Translators from Hebrew
Christian Hebraists