From the Holy Land to the Holy See: Cardinal Pizzaballa emerges as papal candidate

The Franciscan Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who has served as the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem since 2020, has emerged as one of the top candidates to succeed the late Pope Francis.

The conclave will select the new Pope in Rome for the world’s more than 1 billion Catholics on Wednesday.

The Jesuit Pope Francis made Pizzaballa a cardinal in September 2023. The following month, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, slaughtered more than 1,200 people and took more than 250 people hostage. Just a few weeks later, Pizzaballa declared he would offer himself as a hostage to the jihad terrorist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of children kidnapped by the radical Islamists.

CONCLAVE TO PICK NEXT POPE TO BEGIN MAY 7, VATICAN SA...