Denise Marie Scalzo is a lay Franciscan and founding member of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, a worldwide organization that provides programs and projects supporting the human rights of the Christian minority living in the Holy Land. For over 25 years, she has served the “Custodia di Terra Santa” headquartered in Jerusalem, working with religious communities, cardinals, bishops and priests in addressing the needs of the poor in the United States, Latin America and the Middle East. Denise Marie is the Holy Land Councillor and member of the Western Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a Board Member and Treasurer of the Pope Leo XIII Institute (an institute that trains/formation of priests as exorcists), a Board Member and Treasurer of St. John Paul II Institute for Healing and Deliverance (an institute that trains/formation of physicians /priests /prayer teams).
She is the recipient of the Pope Leo XIII Gold Cross of Honor and the City of David Awards for her many years of work in the Holy Land and an international speaker on the Holy Land. She has authored seven volumes of “Love Letters From Gethsemane”. She previously worked as an executive in the television and biomedical research and healthcare industries. She currently consults. A mother of one daughter and two grandchildren (she considers this the greatest honor bestowed upon her), Denise Marie resides in San Diego, California.
