Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti in the Holy Land from 16 to 21 November on behalf of Leo XIV

On the ecumenical front, he is to meet the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, and the Armenian Apostolic Patriarch of Jerusalem, Nourhan Manougian. According to Vatican News, these meetings aim to strengthen unity among Christians, deemed especially necessary in the Holy Land. The cardinal is accompanied by his personal secretary, Father Emanuel Sabadakh, and by an official of the dicastery, Father Nicola Agnoli.

A Minority Christian Presence

The press release recalls the state of the Christian presence in the region. Israel has roughly 185,000 Christian citizens, or 1.9% of the population. Most Catholics there belong to the Greek Melkite Church. The West Bank has about 3.5 million inhabitants, among them a small Catholic minority, predominantly of the Latin rite. In the Gaza Strip, there are around 500 Christians, mostly Greek Orthodox, according to Vatican News.

According to the dicastery, these visits are meant to show the Pope's solidarity and "the concrete support of the entire Church" for the Christians of the Holy Land. Vatican News also recalls that Leo XIV, addressing the participants in the Jubilee of the Eastern Churches, had asked that Christians in the Middle East be given the real possibility, and not merely in words, of remaining on their lands.

The Role of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches

This dicastery of the Roman Curia is responsible for the Holy See's relations with the Eastern Catholic Churches. These Churches are in full communion with Rome but have their own liturgy, discipline and hierarchy: the Greek Melkite, Maronite, Syriac, Chaldean or Armenian Catholic Churches, for example. Several of them are present in the Holy Land, alongside the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The dicastery also coordinates support for the Christians of the region, notably through the Good Friday collection for the holy places. In March 2026, Cardinal Gugerotti signed the appeal for this collection, published in the Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office.

An envoy of the pope, an established practice

The pope regularly sends cardinals of the Curia to represent him before communities in distress. Cardinal Gugerotti has already fulfilled this role. In January 2025, according to a statement published by the Holy See Press Office, Pope Francis had entrusted him with a mission to Syria from 24 to 29 January, to bring "his embrace and his blessing" to the country's Catholics. He was then accompanied by Archbishop Michel Jalakh, secretary of the dicastery, and Father Emanuel Sabadakh. On the ground, the apostolic nuncio, Cardinal Mario Zenari, joined him. That programme already included meetings with the faithful of the various Catholic rites and with the Orthodox patriarchs.

The mission to the Holy Land follows the same pattern: an envoy of the Curia, mandated by the pope, visits the Eastern and Latin Catholic communities and meets the other Christian Churches.