Israeli police officers sparked a diplomatic and religious row on Sunday after they stopped two top clergymen from going to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to celebrate the Palm Sunday Mass.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who serves as the Head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, and Custos of the Holy Land Father Francesco Ielpo, were “compelled” by Israeli police to turn back from their procession towards the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the holiest site in Christianity.
The two Catholic clergymen were on their way towards the site of the crucifixion and resurrection in Jerusalem’s Old City to mark the mass of Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week, when they were turned back, according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land.
“As a result, and for the first time in centuries, the Heads of the Church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” the Franciscan Custody said.
“This incident is a grave precedent, and disregards the sensibilities of billions of people around the world who, during this week, look to Jerusalem.”
They claimed to have been stopped despite having proceeded “privately and without any characteristics of a procession or ceremonial act,” so as to comply with security restrictions amid the war with Iran.
“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 Church bodies added.
They said that preventing the Cardinal and the Custos from celebrating the mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday represented a “manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure.”
“This hasty and fundamentally flawed decision, tainted by improper considerations, represents an extreme departure from basic principles of reasonableness, freedom of worship, and respect for the Status Quo,” they said.
According to Corriere della Sera, Rome was also quick to condemn the actions of the Israeli police, and with Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani summoning the Jewish state’s ambassador on Monday while describing the incident as “unacceptable”.
For her part, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said: “The Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is a sacred place of Christianity… 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 recognises religious freedom.”
French President Emmanuel Macron also waded in on the controversy, saying: “I condemn this decision issued by the Israeli police, which comes in the context of the alarming increase in violations targeting the status quo of the holy places in Jerusalem.
“Freedom to hold religious rites in Jerusalem must be ensured for all religions.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said that the actions by the Israeli police represented an “unfortunate overreach already having major repercussions around the world.” Ambassador Huckabee noted that the representatives of the Catholic Church were well below the limit against gatherings of 50 or more people, saying that “for the Patriarch to be barred from entry to the Church on Palm Sunday for a private ceremony is difficult to understand or justify. Israel has indicated it will work with the Patriarch to accommodate a safe means of carrying out Holy Week activities.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that police officials will meet with Cardinal Pizzaballa to find a solution to the situation while ensuring safety.
“All safety and precautionary instructions in the Old City are a direct result of Iranian missile fire,” the ministry said in a statement per the Times of Israel.
The Foreign Ministry noted that the Iranian regime has fired missiles into the Old City on multiple occasions over the past month and therefore the government has banned mass gatherings in the area, particularly in light of the “area’s density and the difficulty of deploying first responders in such an incident”, which the ministry said could result in a “mass casualty event.”
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