Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, was prevented from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by the Israel Police, the Patriarchate announced on Sunday.
Pizzaballa, accompanied by the official Guardian of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Father Francesco Ielpo, had been proceeding to the church to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass when police stopped the pair and forced them to turn back.
Traditional Palm Sunday celebrations and annual procession into Jerusalem had been canceled due to ongoing security concerns and restrictions imposed by Israel’s Home Front Command. However, the Patriarchate stated that Pizzaballa and Ielpo had been making their way "privately and without any characteristics of a procession or ceremonial act" when the police had stopped them.
The Patriarchate also stated that it was the first time in centuries that the heads of the Church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
"This incident is a grave precedent, and disregards the sensibilities of billions of people around the world who, during this week, look to Jerusalem," the Patriarchate said.
"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 Patriarchate also labeled the prevention of Pizzaballa's entry into the Church as 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," the Patriarchate concluded, expressing its sorrow to Christians across the world who were expecting the Patriarch's prayer within the Church.
Police deny Latin Patriarch entry to Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday
The police responded to the event, claiming that the Patriarch's request to pray at the Church had been previously reviewed and denied due to the security situation.
"The Old City and the holy sites constitute a complex area that does not allow access for large emergency and rescue vehicles, which significantly challenges response capabilities and poses a real risk to human life in the event of a mass casualty incident," the police emphasized.
Israel's representative to Rome, Jonathan Peled, was summoned to the Italian Foreign Ministry for a discussion following the event.
Various foreign embassies also requested explanations from the Foreign Affairs Ministry for the police's actions.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry stated that there existed a substantial risk to life in the Old City of Jerusalem due to the ongoing war with Iran, and announced that the police would be meeting with Pizzaballa following the event, "to explore solutions that allow for as normal a routine as possible while ensuring public safety."
The Prime Minister's Office also responded, saying that there had been "no malicious intent whatsoever" in the police's actions.
"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," the Prime Minister's Office stated, adding that Israel's security was putting together a plan to enable church leaders to worship at the site.
Later that day, President Isaac Herzog called Pizzaballa to express his "great sorrow" over the incident.
The president noted that the "unfortunate incident stemmed from security concerns due to the continuous threat of missile attacks from the Iranian terror regime against the civilian population in Israel, following previous incidents of Iranian missiles that had fallen in the area of the Old City of Jerusalem in recent days."
MK Gilad Kariv, who chairs the Committee on Immigration, Absorption, and the Diaspora, claimed that last year, his committee noted the "unprofessional conduct of the police" regarding churches in Jerusalem.
He then punched out at National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and right-wing activist Bentzi Gopstein for what he perceived as their involvement.
"When someone who has called to burn churches in the State of Israel (Bentzi Gopstein) regularly sits in the office of the minister responsible for the police, is it any surprise that the police are failing to manage the sensitive and important relationship with the churches in Jerusalem—thereby failing the entire State of Israel in yet another unnecessary and serious diplomatic and public diplomacy incident?" he wrote in a post on X/Twitter.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid also responded to the incident, saying that "There is no destruction of value like what this government is doing to our international standing."
"No one [is] stepping up to say: 'This is not a Jewish declaration of war on the Christian world,'" Lapid said, claiming that the government had not responded to the disgrace in a timely manner.
"I condemn the decision of the Israeli police, which joins a disturbing sequence of violations of the status quo of the holy places in Jerusalem," stated French President Emmanuel Macron in a post on X/Twitter, calling for freedom of worship to be ensured in Jerusalem.
What is Palm Sunday?
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week for Christians and commemorates Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem the week before his death, when crowds laid palm branches along his path.
Each year, thousands of Christian Israelis and pilgrims traditionally gather in the city to reenact the route described in the New Testament. The procession begins at Bethphage on the Mount of Olives and descends into the Old City via the Lions’ Gate.
Following Palm Sunday, Holy Week continues with a series of religious ceremonies that culminate in Easter Sunday, which commemorates Jesus’ resurrection as described in the Gospels.
The week is the holiest period in the Christian calendar, and the traditional observances in Jerusalem are among the most anticipated religious events of the year.
The current restrictions marked what Pizzaballa described as “a wound that adds to many others inflicted by the conflict.”