"We look forward to saying a clear and peaceful word regarding politics, which is often fragile and short-sighted, but which weighs heavily on the lives of all our families."
Pizzaballa has lived in the Middle East since 1990. The Italian moved to the Holy Land shortly after his priestly ordination as a Franciscan to study biblical theology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem.
He went on to serve as Vicar of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem for the pastoral care of Hebrew-speaking Catholics in Israel, and oversaw the publication of the Roman Missal in Hebrew in 1995.
Pizzaballa also served as Custos of the Holy Land -- the major superior of the Friars Minor in the Middle East -- from 2004 to 2016. He was appointed apostolic administrator sede vacante of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem on June 24, 2016.
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Pope Francis named him the new Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem in October. In November, Pizzaballa traveled to Galilee and the Sharon Plain to entrust his mission to the prayer of contemplative religious orders in the Holy Land.
Pizzaballa will return to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the morning of Dec. 5 to offer his first Pontifical Mass.
"Dear brothers and sisters, I invite you to pray for me and for our beloved Church in Jerusalem, so that I may lead it, serve it and love it with an undivided heart," Pizzaballa said.
"From this Holy Place, the Risen Lord repeats the words that He spoke to the women on the day of the Resurrection: 'Do not fear; go and tell my brothers' … These are the words of the Risen Christ and they must always resound in our hearts. We are not alone, nor orphans, we need not be afraid. We are sure that the Risen Lord will once again fill us with His Holy Spirit and make us bold witnesses of His love in His Land."
Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.