The Vatican Explores Israel, and Discovers Its Own Faithful

The number of Jewish Christians in Israel is growing constantly, and the Holy See is adapting. The new Custodian of the Holy Land speaks Hebrew. And in the Cenacle, soon to be returned to the Church, the mass will again be celebrated.

by Sandro Magister

ROMA - Since May 15, the Holy Land has had a new Custodian, Franciscan Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, 38, from Bergamo. The Custodian has authority over all the major Christian holy sites in the land of Jesus. His fellow friars were the ones who elected him, but it was the Vatican that had the last word. Pizzaballa speaks Hebrew and has been parish priest for the Jewish Christians of Jerusalem. He is a very close friend of Bishop Jean-Baptiste Gourion, the Jewish convert who, since last autumn, has been placed there by the pope to care for "the Catholic faithful of Jewish expression" living in the Holy Land.

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