New Catholic Patriarch for Holy Land

The Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land has a new leader. Archbishop Fouad Twal, 67, succeeds Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah. Rev Sabbah was the first Palestinian appointed to the post. He retired after 21 years as patriarch. At a ceremony in Jerusalem, Archbishop Twal said: "I am receiving from our Holy Church the responsibility of guiding our beloved Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Mother of all Churches," his office said in a statement yesterday. Twal, who was born in Jordan, was named as Sabbah's assistant in 2005. He has served in Vatican diplomatic posts in Honduras, Germany and Peru, and studied church law in the Pontifical Lateranense University in Rome. Source: Latin Patriarch ate