Italian to supervise as Jerusalem awaits new Catholic Patriarch

Pierbattista Pizzaballa, a Franciscan brother, will oversee the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem until election of replacement



Pierbattista Pizzaballa at the Church of St. Catherine in Bethlehem, November 2010. (Najeh Hashlamoun/Flash90)

BY AFP
June 25, 2016, 6:21 am

Pope Francis has appointed an Italian priest, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, to oversee the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem until the election of a replacement for retiring Patriarch Fouad Twal, the patriarchate said Friday.

Twal, the most senior Catholic priest in Israel, Jordan and Cyprus, had given the Pope notice of his retirement after turning 75 in October.

Pizzaballa, a Franciscan brother who was formerly the church’s Custos of the Holy Land, was elevated to the status of Archbishop and appointed Apostolic Administrator for the region’s Catholic mission.

“Traditionally, the election of a patriarch can take 12 to 18 months,” Wadie Abunassar, spokesman for the Assembly of Catholic Bishops in the Holy Land, told AFP.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/italian-to-supervise-as-jerusalem-awaits-new-catholic-patriarch/