At the invitation of Bishop Hugues de Woillemont, director general of L’Œuvre d’Orient, and Father Étienne Kern, rector of the Shrine of Paray-le-Monial, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, will make an official visit to France from June 8 to 14, 2026.
He will be accompanied by Bishop William Shomali, auxiliary bishop and patriarchal vicar for Jerusalem and Palestine, as well as Father Davide Meli, chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
A Franciscan, former Custos of the Holy Land, and created a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023, Cardinal Pizzaballa is the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, shepherd of the Latin Catholic Church in the Holy Land. His unwavering commitment to dialogue and peaceful coexistence has earned him moral authority that is widely recognized beyond the Catholic world.
On April 25, 2026, he published an important pastoral letter devoted to the Church’s mission in the Holy Land in the context of the current conflict: “They Returned to Jerusalem with Great Joy”: A Proposal for Living Out the Church’s Vocation in the Holy LandÂ
This pastoral letter had a significant impact.
From June 8 to 10, the cardinal will be in Paris to meet with the faithful, representatives of the Eastern Churches, and church, cultural, and institutional leaders. He will then travel to Paray-le-Monial, where he will preside over the Feast of the Sacred Heart, held under the theme: “Jerusalem, the First City of the Heart of Jesus.”
