Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa new Custos of the Holy Land

This morning, saturday May 15, the nomination of Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa as the new Custos of the Holy Land has been officially confirmed.

The new custos appears (second from right) in the above photograph after the discussion of a thesis of Licence which he tutored (June 21, 2003).

Father Pierbattista, an Italian, is 39 years old. He is an alumnus of the "Studium Biblicum Franciscanum" having completed a Licentiate in Biblical Theology in 1993 under the supervision of prof. A. Niccacci.

From 1995 to 1999 he specialized in semitic languages at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Now he is preparing his Doctorate at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum under the title: "L’alleanza in terra di Moab. Analisi storico-letteraria di Dt 29-30" tutored by profs. A. Rofè and A. Niccacci.

Since 1998 he is an assistant professor at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum and Studium Theologicum Hierosolymitanum (Biblical Hebrew and Judaism).

From the OFM site:

- Informations

- Interview