Age, Biography, and Wiki
Pierbattista Pizzaballa (Petrus Battista Pizzaballa) was born on April 21, 1965, in Italy, making him 60 years old in 2025. He is a member of the Franciscan Order and has served as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since 2020. Pizzaballa has spent much of his adult life in the Holy Land, where he studied and later taught biblical Hebrew and theology. He is widely recognized for his efforts to foster peace and understanding among Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities in Jerusalem and across the region.
For more detailed information, see his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierbattista_Pizzaballa.
| Occupation | Cat |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 21 April 1965 |
| Age | 60 Years |
| Birth Place | Cologno al Serio, Italy |
| Horoscope | Taurus |
| Country | Italy |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Publicly available sources do not provide details regarding Cardinal Pizzaballa’s height, weight, or body measurements. As a religious figure, such personal data is not typically disclosed or emphasized in his public profile.
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Dating & Relationship Status
As a Catholic cardinal, Pierbattista Pizzaballa maintains a vow of celibacy, which is a requirement for clergy in the Roman Catholic Church. Therefore, he is not known to have any romantic relationships or to be dating.
In 2016, he was appointed as the Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem and in 2020 became the Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem, the head of Christianity's mother church. Three years later, in 2023, he was made a cardinal by Pope Francis. Following Francis' death, he was considered papabile, a possible candidate to be elected pope by the College of Cardinals, at the 2025 papal conclave albeit his relatively young age.
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Net Worth and Salary
Unlike secular celebrities or business figures, Cardinal Pizzaballa, like most Catholic clerics, does not receive a traditional salary. His fundamental needs—such as housing, food, clothing, and travel—are provided by the Church or the institutions he serves. This model is similar to that of other high-ranking church officials, including the late Pope Francis, whose net worth was estimated to be minimal, reflecting the Church’s practice of providing for its leaders rather than paying them a substantial salary.
Specific figures for Cardinal Pizzaballa’s net worth are not available. However, it is reasonable to assume that his personal wealth is modest and in line with the broader traditions of the Franciscan Order, which emphasizes poverty and service.
Career, Business, and Investments
Career Highlights:
- Early Years: Joined the Franciscan Order and completed his novitiate at La Verna, Italy.
- Education: Studied classical studies at the Archiepiscopal Seminary of Ferrara and biblical theology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem.
- Teaching: Taught biblical Hebrew at the Franciscan Faculty of Biblical Science and Archeology in Jerusalem.
- Leadership Roles: Served as Custos of the Holy Land from 2004 to 2016, overseeing the Franciscan presence and the care of sacred sites.
- Church Administration: Appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem in 2016 and became Latin Patriarch in 2020.
- Cardinal: Elevated to the cardinalate by Pope Francis in 2023.
- Public Figure: Known for his efforts to mediate peace in the Middle East and for his outspoken advocacy during regional conflicts.
In June 2014 Pope Francis entrusted Pizzaballa with organizing the peace prayer in the Vatican gardens, which brought together Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Pizzaballa criticized Israel's construction of a barrier between the West Bank and Jerusalem and participated in protests against it in 2015. He also, before becoming a bishop, criticized Palestinian leaders for blaming all problems on the Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.
He has advocated for an end to the Gaza war and the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Pizzaballa was a signatory to the "Statement on the Escalating Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza" which condemned attacks on civilians, called for de-escalation and called for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. His statement was criticized by Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen. In response, Pizzaballa condemned Hamas' actions as barbaric and offered himself as a hostage in exchange for captive Israeli children held in Gaza during the Gaza war.
Pizzaballa upholds the Catholic view of the Arab–Israel conflict, advocating for an end to the Gaza war and the occupation of Palestine by the people and government of Israel, and donned a Palestinian keffiyeh in the City of Bethlehem on 2023's Christmas Eve. He believes that it has been "a watershed in interreligious dialogue, which can never be the same as before, at least between Christians, Muslims, and Jews."
Social Network
Cardinal Pizzaballa is active in public and media engagements but does not maintain public social media accounts under his own name, consistent with the privacy and security concerns facing religious leaders in sensitive regions. His messages and statements are often disseminated through official church channels and interviews with international press.
Growing up in the small hamlet of Castel Liteggio, Pizzaballa witnessed a "simple and authentic" lifestyle which he describes with the following words: "It was a simple and genuine world, and a sober and happy life." Motivated by a desire to be like a much-loved local priest, Don Pèrsec, Pizzaballa felt a vocation to be a priest already as a child at the age of nine. In September 1976, he entered the Franciscan Le Grazie minor seminary in Rimini at the age of 11 and eight years later, in September 1984, the Franciscan novitiate in La Verna. He made his first vows there on September 7, 1985, and his perpetual vows in Bologna on October 4, 1989. He was ordained a priest on September 15, 1990, in the Cathedral of Bologna by Cardinal Giacomo Biffi.
In the leadup to the 2025 papal conclave, it was described that Pizzaballa had not stated clear positions on many contentious issues within the Catholic Church. According to Crux, a newspaper focusing on the Catholic Church, Pizzaballa's stances on things like "the blessing of people in same-sex unions or the ordination of women deacons [are] something of a mystery."
Education
- Classical Studies: Archiepiscopal Seminary of Ferrara, Italy
- Biblical Theology: Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem
- Professional Teaching: Franciscan Faculty of Biblical Science and Archeology, Jerusalem
After being received into the Franciscan Order, he spend his novitiate at the Franciscan Shrine of La Verna in Arezzo, Italy. In 1990, he was called to service in the Holy Land, specifically Jerusalem. Having obtained his diploma in classical studies at the Archiepiscopal Seminary of Ferrara, in Jerusalem, he went on to study Biblical Theology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum and taught biblical Hebrew at the Franciscan Faculty of Biblical Science and Archeology in Jerusalem.
Pizzaballa obtained his diploma in classical studies at the Archiepiscopal Seminary of Ferrara and went on to earn his bachelor's degree in theology at the Pontifical University Antonianum. As a 25-year-old priest he was send to the Holy Land where he studied Biblical Theology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem and learned biblical as well as modern Hebrew. Besides his native Italian, Pizzaballa today speaks Hebrew, Latin, English, and Arabic.
He was then sent to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem from 1995 to 1999 to deepen his understanding of Jewish religious thought where he was the only Christian studying Scripture at that time but said it was “very interesting” because it was the first time that he found himself in a “non-Christian context.” In 1998, he became assistant professor of Biblical Hebrew and Judaism at the Franciscan Faculty of Biblical and Archaeological Sciences in Jerusalem and the Studium Theologicum Jerosolymitanum. He was responsible for the translation of the Roman Missal into Hebrew and its publication in 1995. He also translated liturgical texts into Hebrew.
Summary Table
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Pierbattista (Petrus Battista) Pizzaballa |
| Birth Date | April 21, 1965 |
| Age (2025) | 60 |
| Title | Cardinal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem |
| Religious Order | Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) |
| Net Worth | Not publicly disclosed; expected to be modest |
| Salary | None; needs provided by the Church |
| Relationship Status | Celibate |
| Education | Classical studies, biblical theology |
| Social Media | Not publicly active |
