A new Vicar for Saint James Vicariate

On September 1, Father Piotr Zelazko begins his new office as Patriarchal Vicar for the Hebrew speaking Catholics in Israel, and he succeeds Fr. Rafic Nahra, newly appointed Patriarchal Vicar for Israel, who has served as Vicar for Saint James Vicariate and as responsible for the pastoral of Migrants since 2017.

Father Piotr was born in Lubsko, Poland, in 1976 and was ordained priest in 2003 for the Archidiocese of Szczecin-Kamień. In the Holy Land since 2005, he has a Ph.D in Scripture and Biblical Archeology, and he joined the Latin Patriarchate in December 2020.

Over the years Fr. Piotr has served our Vicariate in different ways: first as responsible for the Jerusalem kehillah, then as pastor of Beersheba, as he was also involved in youth ministry, prison ministry and inter-religious dialogue.

We wish Father Piotr good luck as we promise him our support and accompaniment.

Thank you too, Father Rafic for these past 4 years as Vicar, and for all the work you did since 2004 for the sake of our Hebrew speaking communities. Best of luck for your new appointment!