The Israeli Police forces and Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the highest-ranking Catholic official in the Holy Land, announced jointly on Monday that they had agreed to an arrangement to allow for Catholic ceremonies at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during Holy Week.
Israeli authorities banned Cardinal Pizzaballa from conducting Mass at the church on Sunday – Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week marking the arrival of Jesus to Jerusalem shortly before his crucifixion. The Israeli government had banned mass religious ceremonies at the holy sites of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity in the Old City of Jerusalem in response to continued missile fire from Iran, whose Islamist terror government has been at war with Israel and the United States since February. While mass observances are banned, Pizzaballa and another clergyman, Custos of the Holy Land Father Francesco Ielpo, were attempting to conduct a Mass that would be broadcast to the world without an audience, which should not have violated the restrictions. The Vatican — and Christians around the world — questioned the decision not to allow the ceremony.
By Sunday night, Israel’s top authorities announced that they would engage in meetings with Cardinal Pizzaballa and other officials to ensure that other Holy Week events could be conducted safely. On Monday, Israel police shared a photo of officers shaking hands with a smiling Pizzaballa and announced that Holy Week services would occur without interruption, though also without an audience.
“Following a productive meeting between the Israel Police and Latin Catholic Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, a mutual framework has been established for upcoming Easter ceremonies,” Israel police announced. “Due to the complex security reality of Operation ‘Roaring Lion,’ ceremonies including the ‘Holy Fire’ will be held in a symbolic, limited format.”
“This coordination ensures that freedom of worship is maintained alongside our shared, primary duty: the protection of human life,” the authorities explained. “In the past few weeks, Iranian missiles and debris have impacted within the Old City. These life-saving restrictions are a direct response to a real and present danger to all worshippers.”
The office of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Vatican’s top office in the region, separately confirmed a successful agreement.
“Matters concerning the Holy Week and Easter celebrations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre have been addressed and resolved in coordination with the relevant authorities,” the Patriarchate explained. “In agreement with the Israel Police, access for representatives of the Churches has been secured in order to conduct the liturgies and ceremonies and to preserve the ancient Easter traditions at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.”
“Especially in times of hardship and conflict, such as those presently endured, safeguarding the freedom of worship remains a fundamental and shared duty,” the statement concluded.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog celebrated the agreement on Monday and emphasized that his government respects freedom of religion.
“I reiterate the unwavering commitment of the State of Israel to the freedom of worship for people of all faiths and the importance of upholding the status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem,” Herzog said in a statement. “On behalf of the State of Israel, I extend my warmest wishes for the upcoming Easter holiday to the Latin Patriarch, to our Christian sisters and brothers in the Holy Land, and to our Christian friends across the Middle East and around the world.”
The Latin Patriarchate announced on Sunday that Israeli police “compelled” them to turn back from their procession towards the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, making it impossible for them to hold their traditional Palm Sunday Mass at the holy site. It published an outraged statement lamenting the “grave precedent” set by their inability to access the church and called the move a “manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure.” Multiple heads of state of Christian majority nations issued statements lamenting the situation, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose country completely encircles Vatican City.
“The Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is a sacred place of Christianity,” Meloni stated. “Preventing entry to the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Custos of the Holy Land, moreover, on a central solemnity for the faith, such as Palm Sunday, constitutes an offence not only for believers, but for every community that recognizes religious freedom.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also lamented the situation, calling it an “unfortunate overreach” by the Israeli government as Cardinal Pizzaballa attempted to conduct his Mass with four people total, when Israeli authorities had only barred gatherings of 50 people or more.
Unable to lead a Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Cardinal Pizzaballa led a service at the garden of Gethsemane, where Christians believe Jesus agonized before his crucifixion.
Pizzaballa said in his meditation:
Today Jesus weeps once more over Jerusalem. He weeps over this city, which remains a sign of both hope and sorrow, of grace and suffering. He weeps over this Holy Land, still unable to recognize the gift of peace. He weeps for all the victims of a war that seems without end: for divided families, for shattered hopes.
The cardinal emphasized that Jesus’s “tears are never fruitless,” expressing a hope for a rapid end to the war.
Follow Frances Martel on Facebook and Twitter.
Read the full article here