Mons. Pierbattista PIZZABALLA, OFM was born in Cologno al Serio (Bergamo) on 21 April 1965, son of Pietro and Maria Maddalena Tadini.
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 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, After spending one year in Rome, he was transferred to the Holy Land, in Jerusalem, in October 1990.
From July 2, 1999, he formally entered in service to the Custody of the Holy Land. Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa was Custos of the Holy Land for twelve years (05.05.2004 – 20.05.2016).
Archbishop Pizzaballa speaks Italian, Modern Hebrew and English.
Since 2008 he is a Consultor in the Commission for relations with Judaism of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Unity among Christians. On May 31, 2017, Archbishop Pizzaballa was appointed member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches by the Holy Father Francis The Episcopal Ordination of Archbishop Pizzaballa took place in September 2016, in Bergamo, Italy.
He was appointed Patriarch of Jerusalem on 24th. October, 2020.