On 29 April 2024, the College of Europe in Natolin hosted Cardinal Pierbattista PIZZABALLA, Patriarch of Jerusalem, who delivered a high-level lecture titled "Religious leadership in the times of war, lessons from Gaza".
The lecture presented a unique opportunity to hear from a notable religious leader actively engaged in mediating peace in an ongoing conflict, that significantly impacts global security. Religious diplomacy plays a crucial role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, given the relevance of the place that three monotheistic religions often refer to as the ‘holy land’.
About the speaker:
Born in 1965 in Bergamo - Italy, Pierbattista PIZZABALLA joined the Franciscan order in 1984. In 1990, he was transferred to the Holy Land, in Jerusalem. He obtained a Licentiate Degree in Biblical Theology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum of Jerusalem. Since 1998 he has been an assistant professor of Biblical Hebrew and Judaism at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum and the Studium Theologicum Hierosolymitanum.
PIZZABALLA was Custos of the Holy Land for 3 mandates (2004 – 2016). In 2016 he was appointed as Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, until 2020, when he was confirmed as the Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem. In 2023, Pope Francis elevated him to the rank of cardinal. Besides his mother tongue in Italian, Cardinal PIZZABALLA is fluent in modern Hebrew, and English.