The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church, the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem is the Latin Catholic ecclesiastical patriarchate in Jerusalem, officially seated in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was originally established in 1099, with the Kingdom of Jerusalem encompassing the territories in the Holy Land newly conquered by the First Crusade. From 1374 to 1847 it was a titular see, with the patriarchs of Jerusalem being based at the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura in Rome. Pope Pius IX re-established a resident Latin patriarch in 1847.
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church, or Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Its chief pastor is Patriarch Youssef Absi, headquartered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition in Damascus, Syria. The Melkites, who are Byzantine Rite Catholics, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, formerly part of Syria and now in Turkey, of the 1st century AD, where Christianity was introduced by Saint Peter.
The Catholic Church in Israel is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, in full communion with the Holy See in Rome.
Hebrew Catholics are a movement of Jews who have converted to Catholicism, and Catholics of non-Jewish origin, who choose to keep Mosaic traditions in light of Catholic doctrine. The phrase was coined by Father Elias Friedman (1987), who was himself a converted Jew. In the Holy Land, they are gathered in the Saint James Vicariate for Hebrew Speaking Catholics in Israel.
Gregory III Laham, B.S., Emeritus Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, of Alexandria and Jerusalem, is the former spiritual leader of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. He was elected on November 29, 2000, succeeding Patriarch Maximos V Hakim. He retired on May 6, 2017.
Assyrians in Israel are Assyrians living in State of Israel, totaling approximately 1,000 individuals.
Maronites in Israel are an ethnoreligious minority who belong to the Maronite Catholic Church, which has historically been tied with Lebanon. They derive their name from the Syriac Saint Maron, whose followers moved to Mount Lebanon from northern Syria, establishing the Maronite Church, most of whose members currently reside in Lebanon. The Maronites in Israel encompass the long-existing Maronite community in Jish, Haifa, and Nazareth areas, as well as the families of former South Lebanon Army members, 7,000 of whom fled South Lebanon in April–May 2000 to Israel. Of these approximately 7,000 migrants, just 2,700 have remained in Israel: over the years, most of them have decided to either return home to Lebanon or to move to Europe or the United States.
Maroun Elias Nimeh Lahham is a Jordanian Catholic prelate who served as the first Bishop of Tunis from 2005 to 2010, and the first Archbishop of Tunis from 2010 to 2012. He later served as the Patriarchal Vicar to Jordan of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem from 2012 until his retirement in 2017.
William Hanna Shomali is a Palestinian Catholic prelate who serves as an auxiliary bishop for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Born in 1950 and ordained priest on June 24, 1972, he has served for eight years in the parishes of Jordan, 19 years as professor then as rector of the Seminary of Beit Jala, and then became General Administrator.
Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo is a Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, resident in Nazareth. As at December 2020, he was Latin Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem and Palestine.
The Apostolic Vicariate of Aleppo is an apostolic vicariate and is immediately subject to the Holy See and its missionary Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.
Moussa El-Hage, is a Maronite Catholic eparch, now Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Haifa and the Holy Land and Patriarchal Exarch of Jerusalem and Palestine and Jordan.
Nicolas Antiba is a Syrian archbishop of Melkite Greek Catholic Church. He is the current Patriarchal Vicar of Damascus, Syria.
Basil Kfoury was bishop of the Patriarchal Vicariate of Egypt and Sudan named by Patriarch Maximos III Mazloum.
Maronite Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Jerusalem and Palestine is an exarchate of the Maronite Patriarchate of the Maronite Church immediately subject to the Patriarchate of Antioch of the Maronites. In 2017 there were 504 members. It is currently governed by archeparch Moussa El-Hage, OAM.
The Armenian Catholic Patriarchal Exarchate of Jerusalem and Amman is the missionary pre-diocesan jurisdiction of the Armenian Catholic Church sui iuris in the Holy Land (Palestine/Israel) and (Trans)Jordan.
David Mark Neuhaus, SJ is a German-Israeli Catholic priest who serves as superior of the Jesuit community at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Jerusalem. From 2009 to 2017, he served as patriarchal vicar for Hebrew-speaking Catholics in the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
Catholic dioceses in the Holy Land and Cyprus is a multi-rite, international episcopate in Israel and Cyprus.
Pierbattista Pizzaballa is an Italian Catholic prelate who has served as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem since 6 November 2020. A Franciscan friar, he served as Custos of the Holy Land from 2004 to 2016 and as Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Patriarchate from 2016 to 2020. He was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023.
