The Israeli police prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballo and the Custos of the Holy Land from entering the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher and celebrating the Holy Mass there on the occasion of Palm Sunday. The AFP agency drew attention to it, reports TASR.
- The Israeli police blocked Cardinal Pizzaball from entering the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher.
- The head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land did not celebrate the Palm Mass for the first time.
- Security measures during the war limited religious gatherings to around fifty people.
“This morning, Israeli police prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballo, head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, from entering the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass there,” the statement said. “As a result, for the first time in centuries, the head of the church was unable to attend the Palm Sunday Mass in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher,” the patriarchate explained.
Restrictions on gatherings
Since the start of Israel’s war with the United States against Iran, Israeli authorities have banned large gatherings, including in synagogues, churches and mosques, with public gatherings limited to about 50 people. The Latin Patriarchate had previously announced that it had canceled the traditional Palm Sunday procession from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, which attracts thousands of worshipers each year.
The Latin Patriarchate condemned the actions of the Israeli police forces and pointed out that the churches have been following all the imposed restrictions since the beginning of the war. “Preventing the entry of the Cardinal and the Custos, who bear the highest ecclesiastical responsibility for the Catholic Church and the Holy Places, is a manifestly grossly disproportionate measure during Holy (Holy) Week, when millions of believers fix their eyes on Jerusalem and the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher,” the statement said.
International condemnation
“This hasty and fundamentally flawed decision is a serious violation of the basic principles of proportionality, freedom of religion and respect for the status quo,” the patriarchate added.
The actions of the Israeli police were also condemned by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who called it an “insult to believers”. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has already summoned the Israeli ambassador.
The meaning of Palm Sunday
On Palm Sunday, which opens Holy Week, Christians commemorate Christ’s final entry into Jerusalem, a few days before his crucifixion and resurrection.
Pope Leo XIV. in his Sunday address after the prayer of the Angel of the Lord in the Vatican, he paid tribute to “Christians in the Middle East who suffer the consequences of a terrible conflict and in many cases cannot fully celebrate the rites of these holidays”.
