The Holy Father has appointed His Eminence Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, O.F.M., Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem as member of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue.

Pierbattista Pizzaballa was born in Cologno al Serio (Bergamo) on 21 April 1965. He received the Franciscan religious habit on September 5, 1984, in Ferrara (Santo Spirito) and spent the year of novitiate at the Franciscan Shrine of La Verna (Arezzo, Italy).

He made his Temporary Profession in La Verna, on September 7, 1985, and his Solemn Profession on October 10, 1989, in the Church of St. Anthony in Bologna.

On September 15, 1990, he was ordained priest in the cathedral church of Bologna, with the imposition of hands of Cardinal Giacomo Biffi. On October 1990, he was transferred to the Holy Land, in Jerusalem.

From July 2, 1999, he formally entered in service to the Custody of the Holy Land. He obtained a Licenciate Degree in Biblical Theology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum of Jerusalem.

Heartfelt wises and congratulations are conveyed to Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa for his noble mission in the service of the Church and humanity through the dialogue of love and brotherhood.