On Monday, January 11, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem His Beatitude Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa met with the priests of the Latin Patriarchate through video conferencing technology. This has been the first meeting of His Beatitude Patriarch Pizzaballa with a group of priests working in Jordan since he assumed patriarchal authority from His Holiness Pope Francis last October.
After a special prayer for Saint Joseph, marking Pope Francis’ announcement of 2021 as a special year dedicated to St. Joseph, Latin Patriarchal Vicar for Jordan Bishop William Shomali welcomed the Patriarch on behalf of the priests participating in this meeting. Then, Secretary of the Council of Priests Fr. Wissam Mansour delivered an address during which he stated that all the priests welcome the patriarch’s first official visit and his first meeting with the priests of the Latin Patriarchate working in the Kingdom.
In his address, Patriarch Pizzaballa spoke about his principled plans, which include namely involving the priests and the laity in pastoral work, as well as launching an integrated pastoral plan and an integrated pastoral council that include the entire diocese or a special pastoral council for each section of the diocese.
A discussion ensued between the patriarch and the participating priests about the future plans of the Latin Patriarchate, especially after having found a solution to the financial problem that had troubled the Patriarchate over the past years. In the end, the participants were blessed by His Beatitude the Patriarch, and expressed their constant readiness to cooperate with him in the process of running the affairs of the Church. For his part, the patriarch expressed his readiness to jointly work with priests in improving the performance of the patriarchal institutions in the various aspects relevant to their pastoral, cultural, spiritual and humanitarian activities.
Source: en.abouna.org
