As part of a series of scheduled visits during his trip in Spain to various organizations and foundations in autumn 2025, the Chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Father Davide Meli, accompanied by Her Excellency Mrs. María José Fernández y Martín, a collaborator of the Patriarchate, visited the headquarters of the Constantinian Order of Saint George in Madrid.
The purpose of the visit was to meet with representatives of the Order to share information about the difficult circumstances facing the Christian churches in the Holy Land, caused, among other factors, by the well-known geopolitical crisis.
In this meeting—held under the auspices of HRH the Duke of Calabria, Grand Master of the Constantinian Order—Father Meli was received by His Excellency Álvaro Zuleta de Reales y Ansaldo, Duke of Linares, Knight Grand Cross of Justice, President of the Order’s Royal Commission for the Kingdom of Spain, and by Mr. Óscar Gómez de Linares y Rodríguez, Knight Grand Cross of Jure Sanguinis and coordinator of the visit.
The Chancellor, commissioned by His Beatitude Pierbattista Cardinal Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, expressed his desire to establish an initial contact that would allow the development of forms of collaboration and support for the Church and its institutions in the territories of Israel and Palestine.
The fact that these institutions are suffering an increasingly unsustainable decline could lead to an irreversible situation if international support is not provided. The Christian world has a debt to Jerusalem, which remains—despite a sense of neglect—a vital source of spirituality.
The deterioration of the Christian Quarter in Jerusalem, the neglect and official abandonment of Christian institutions such as the College of Our Lady of the Pillar in that city, are among the signs of a greater problem: the danger of losing the spiritual reference that Jerusalem represents for Christianity, and therefore for Europe.
The deterioration of the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem, and the neglect of Christian institutions such as the Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Pilar in that city, are among the symptoms of a broader problem: the danger of losing the spiritual reference that Jerusalem represents for Christianity, and consequently for Europe.
As demonstrated by this visit, and by possible future visits, the Chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem seeks to bring Europe closer to Jerusalem, and likewise bring Jerusalem closer to Europe, in order to contribute to the spiritual renewal and support of European Christianity.
Father Davide Meli was born in Rome on 22 April 1984. He studied at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., graduating in 2006 with a degree in architecture. After being ordained a priest in June 2014, he served as Vicar at the Parish of the Immaculate Conception in Al Husson, Jordan, before continuing his studies in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome in 2016.
As Chancellor, together with his staff, he directly assists the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem in the mission of supporting and helping the faithful and their communities, in accordance with Canon Law at both the universal and local levels. The Chancellery manages the daily affairs of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, overseeing all official documents, including the registration and maintenance of its archives.
PHOTOGRAPH ABOVE, left to right: H.E. the Duke of Linares, Father Meli, and Óscar Gómez de Linares y Rodríguez, in front of a portrait of HRH the Grand Master of the Constantinian Order, Prince Pedro, Duke of Calabria
