Israeli president visits Catholic Patriarchate to offer Easter greetings
April 21, 2017
Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin visited the offices of the Latin-rite Patriarchate of Jerusalem on April 19, to offer his Easter greetings to the country’s Christians.
Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzabella, the apostolic administrator of the Jerusalem patriarchate, welcomed Rvilin along with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III. The archbishop took note of the fact that this year, all Christians observed Easter on the same date, at the same time that Jews were celebrating the Passover. He said that the “joyful confusion” of the different celebrations was a model of interfaith harmony. President Rivlin, in his own remarks, said: “We are all Jerusalemites.”
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Posted by: Archpriest -
Apr. 21, 2017 8:13 PM ET USA
The headline is misleading. It probably should have read: "Israeli president visits Latin Catholic Patriarchate. Why? 1. There are two Catholic patriarchates in Jerusalem (the Latin Catholic and the Greek Catholic. Gregory III, Greek-Catholic [Melkite] patriarch of Antioch is also patriarch of Jerusalem and Alexandria. 2. There presently is no Latin (i.e. Roman) Catholic patriarch of Jerusalem. The office is empty and has been filled by an apostolic administrator for over a year.
