Israel has said it is preparing a plan to allow Christian leaders to worship at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre “in the coming days” after Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa was prevented from entering the site on Palm Sunday.
In a statement released Sunday by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land, officials said Israeli police stopped Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, along with Francesco Ielpo, while they were en route to the church and were “compelled to turn back.” The statement said the incident marked the first time in centuries that the heads of the church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
“This incident is a grave precedent, and disregard the sensibilities of billions of people around the world who, during this week, look to Jerusalem,” the statement read. “The Heads of the Churches have acted with full responsibility and, since the outset of the war, have complied with all imposed restrictions: public gatherings were cancelled, attendance was prohibited, and arrangements were made to broadcast the celebrations to hundreds of millions of faithful worldwide, who, during these days of Easter, turn their eyes to Jerusalem and to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.”
The development drew widespread criticism, including from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who said, “Preventing the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Custos of the Holy Land from entering, especially on a solemnity central to the faith such as Palm Sunday, constitutes an offense not only against believers but against every community that recognizes religious freedom.”
Israeli police said in a statement that, since the beginning of “Operation Roaring Lion,” all holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem have been closed to worshippers, particularly those without protected spaces. Police explained that the patriarch’s request was reviewed yesterday, and clarified that it could not be approved for these reasons.
In response, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran has recently targeted holy sites of “all three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem with ballistic missiles,” and that as a result, the country has “temporarily asked worshippers from all faiths not to worship at the holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City to protect them.”
“Today, out of special concern for his safety, Jerusalem police prevented the Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pizzaballa from holding mass this morning at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Again, there was no malicious intent whatsoever, only concern for his safety and that of his party,” the prime minister’s office said. “However, given the holiness of the week leading up to Easter for the world’s Christians, Israel’s security arms are putting together a plan to enable church leaders to worship at the holy site in the coming days.”
Earlier this month, fragments of an intercepted Iranian missile landed in Jerusalem’s Old City, roughly 400 meters from the Western Wall and Al-Aqsa Mosque. Just days prior, debris from intercepted missiles also fell near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
