The Roman Catholic church on Monday swore in a new guardian of its sites in the Holy Land for the first time in over a decade, AFP reports.
Italian Franciscan Father Francesco Patton, 52, replaces Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa in the post known as Custos of the Holy Land. The Custos is responsible for caring and maintaining Christian presence in much of the Middle East, as well as coordinating and organising the thousands of Catholic pilgrims to Jerusalem every year.