The appointment, made public Thursday, makes Archbishop Twal, 64, the eventual successor of Patriarch Sabbah, 72.
Fouad Twal was born in Madaba, Jordan, ordained a priest in 1966 and received a licentiate in canon law from the Lateran University in Rome in 1975.
He has carried out diplomatic service in the apostolic nunciatures of Honduras, Germany and Peru, and in the Council for Political Affairs of the State Secretariat.
He was named bishop of Tunis in 1992, and was promoted to archbishop in 1994. He is also the president of the regional bishops’ conference of North Africa.
Bishop Maroun Elias Lahham of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, who until now was the rector of the patriarchal seminary of Beit-Jala, will replace Archbishop Twal as bishop of Tunis.
