Catholic World News News Feature

New Franciscan Custos for Holy Land May 17, 2004

The Holy See has approved the nomination of Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, to become the Custos of the Holy Land.

Father Pizzaballa, who has served in the Holy Land steadily since his ordination to the priesthood in 1990, was nominated by the General Definitor of the Franciscan order, in accordance with the statutes for the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. He will succeed father Giovanni Battistelli, who has held the post for six years.

During his years in the Holy Land, Father Pizzaballa has taught Hebrew at the Franciscan faculty in Jerusalem, and worked with the Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah in the pastoral care of Hebrew-speaking Catholics. Since May 2001 he has been the superior of the convents of Sts. Simeon and St. Anna in Jerusalem.

The Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, which has been formally recognized by the Holy See since it was established under Pope Clement VI in 1342, is entrusted with the care of the holy places in and around Jerusalem. The Franciscans take for the basilicas and sanctuaries in the Holy Land, and the pastoral care of pilgrims who visit them. The Franciscan Custody is maintained by friars of 32 different nations, and governed from Jerusalem by the Custos a council of seven members.

The Christian population of the Holy Land has plummeted since the establishment of the Israeli state; it was 47 percent in 1947, and is barely 2 percent today. There are roughly 150,000 Christians in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, of whom about half are Catholic.