The Israeli prime minister said the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem would now have “full and immediate access” to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, after police prevented him from celebrating Palm Sunday mass there.
Benjamin Netanyahu said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, had been asked not to enter the church out of safety concerns. He said Iran had repeatedly targeted Jerusalem’s holy sites with ballistic missiles.
The decision to prevent the cardinal from accessing Christianity’s holiest site had been criticized by several Western countries.
The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said it was an “unfortunate overstep” that was “difficult to understand or justify”.
Cardinal Pizzaballa and the Rev. Francesco Ielpo were arrested outside the church believed to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, as they planned to celebrate a mass to mark the start of Holy Week, church authorities said.
Cardinal Pizzaballa’s office said it was “the first time in centuries” that a Latin patriarch was turned away from the holy site on Palm Sunday, which marks Christ’s return to Jerusalem.
He and Rev. Ielpo were “forced” to turn away from the church, where Christ was also believed to have been buried and then resurrected, according to the statement.
“This incident constitutes a serious precedent and does not take into account the sensitivity of billions of people around the world, who this week are turning to Jerusalem,” said a press release from the patriarchate.
“This hasty and fundamentally flawed decision, tainted by inappropriate considerations, represents an extreme departure from the fundamental principles of reasonableness, freedom of worship and respect for the status quo.”
The patriarchate said it had followed all “imposed restrictions” and acted responsibly since the start of the war, adding that Sunday’s decision was “a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure.”
Cardinal Pizzaballa later said that while he “didn’t want to force things,” “we hadn’t asked for anything public, just a brief, small private ceremony.”
“We want to take advantage of this situation to try to better clarify in the coming days what needs to be done, while respecting everyone’s safety but also respecting the right to prayer,” he added.
Netanyahu said worshipers of “all faiths” had been asked not to visit sites in Jerusalem’s Old City, which were subject to Iranian strikes, and that police had acted in this case for “special” security reasons.
The city’s traditional Palm Sunday procession had already been canceled due to restrictions on public gatherings.
Israeli police said all holy sites in the Old City had been closed to worshipers since the start of the Israeli-US war against Iran on February 28 for security reasons, and had rejected the patriarchate’s request for an exemption for Palm Sunday.
Netanyahu said holy sites belonging to Christian, Jewish and Muslim worshipers had been “repeatedly targeted” by Iranian missile strikes in recent days.
“In a single strike, missile fragments crashed a few meters from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” he said in a statement on X, adding that Sunday’s decision did not imply “any malicious intent.”
A plan was being developed to allow church leaders to pray at the site in the coming days, he said.
Then, on Sunday evening, Netanyahu announced that he had asked the relevant authorities to grant the Latin patriarch “full and immediate access” to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher so that he could “organize services as he wishes.”
Huckabee noted that the two clergymen attempted to enter the church privately without a procession and that the current rules pertain to religious gatherings of more than 50 people.
However, he praised the Israeli government’s efforts to remedy the situation and facilitate other Holy Week activities.
A US State Department spokesperson told BBC News: “We encourage the Israeli government to facilitate the safe celebration of Holy Week. »
They also highlighted “the difficult security conditions in Jerusalem resulting from indiscriminate and continued Iranian missile attacks.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the move was “an offense not only against believers but against any community that recognizes religious freedom”, while Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he had summoned Israel’s ambassador to Italy for an explanation.
French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the decision, saying it came against the backdrop of “the worrying increase in violations of the status of holy sites in Jerusalem.”
“The freedom to organize religious rites in Jerusalem must be guaranteed for all religions,” he said in a statement on X.
And Pope Leo
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he called Cardinal Pizzaballa to express his “great sadness” over “this unfortunate incident.”
He said he also reaffirmed Israel’s “unwavering commitment to religious freedom for all faiths and to maintaining the status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem.”