TEL AVIV\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Israeli police prevented Catholic leaders from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Mass on the Christian holiday of Palm Sunday for the first time in centuries, the Latin Patriarchate said Sunday.<\/p>\n
Jerusalem\u2019s major holy sites are closed because of the ongoing Iran war, including the church, as the city has come under frequent fire from Iranian missiles. <\/p>\n
The Catholic Church called the police decision \u201ca manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure.\u201d It prevented two of the church\u2019s top religious leaders, including Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and the head of the Custos in the Holy Land, from celebrating Palm Sunday at the place where Christians believe Jesus was crucified.<\/p>\n
Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus\u2019 triumphant entry into Jerusalem and launches the Holy Week commemorations for Christians who follow the Latin calendar, which culminates with Easter next Sunday.<\/p>\n
The Israeli police said it had notified the Catholic Church on Saturday that no Mass could take place on Palm Sunday because of safety considerations, the lack of access for emergency vehicles in narrow alleys of the Old City and lack of adequate shelter. <\/p>\n
However, the Latin Patriarchate said the Church of the Holy Sepulchre has been hosting Masses that aren\u2019t open to the public since the Iran war began on Feb. 28, and it was unclear why Sunday\u2019s Mass and access by the two priests was any different. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very, very sacred day for Christians and in our opinion there was no justification for such a decision or such an action,\u201d said Farid Jubran, the spokesperson for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. <\/p>\n
Jubran said that the church had requested permission from the police for a few religious leaders to enter the church for a private Mass on Sunday \u2014 not one that was open to the public. The Patriarchate said that the decision impeded freedom of worship and the status quo in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
The traditional Palm Sunday procession normally sees tens of thousands of Christians from around the world walk from the Mount of Olives down the narrow, hilly streets toward the Old City, waving palm fronds and singing.<\/p>\n
The Patriarchate canceled the traditional processional last week because of safety concerns, and has held Masses limited to fewer than 50 worshipers in compliance with the Israeli military\u2019s guidelines for civilians.<\/p>\n
Pizzaballa celebrated Mass in the nearby St. Savior\u2019s Monastery, a soaring marble church next to an underground music school that the Israeli military has deemed a safe shelter space. Later Sunday, Pizzaballa held a prayer for peace at the Dominus Flevit Shrine on the Mount of Olives, but kept his homily concentrated on Jesus and didn\u2019t mention the morning\u2019s incident.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo XIV, at the end of Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter\u2019s Square, prayed for all Christians in the Middle East who he said were living through an \u201catrocious\u201d conflict. He said that \u201cin many cases, they cannot live fully the rites of these holy days,\u201d though he didn\u2019t elaborate.<\/p>\n
The Vatican spokesman didn\u2019t immediately respond when asked to comment on the Jerusalem incident.<\/p>\n
Italy condemns decision<\/p>\n
Italy formally protested the incident to Israeli authorities. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said that the police action \u201cconstitutes an offense not only against believers but against every community that recognizes religious freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is a sacred site of Christianity, and as such must be preserved and protected for the celebration of sacred rites,\u201d Meloni said. \u201cPreventing the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Custos of the Holy Land from entering, especially on a solemnity central to the faith such as Palm Sunday, constitutes an offense not only against believers but against every community that recognizes religious freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meloni\u2019s conservative government tried to keep a balanced position with Israel during the war in the Gaza Strip, supporting Israel\u2019s right to defense but condemning the toll on Palestinians.<\/p>\n
The Italian leader has also said that Italy won\u2019t participate in the Iran war, while affirming that the Islamic Republic can\u2019t be allowed to possess nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani instructed Italy\u2019s ambassador to Israel to convey the protest \u201cand to reaffirm Italy\u2019s commitment to protecting religious freedom at all times and under all circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition, Tajani summoned the Israeli ambassador to Italy for talks Monday at the Italian Foreign Ministry to seek clarification about the decision.<\/p>\n
Israeli leader explains closure<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday evening that there was no \u201cmalicious intent\u201d and that the cardinal was prevented from accessing the church because of safety concerns, but that Israel would try to partially open the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the coming days.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the holiness of the week leading up to Easter for the world\u2019s Christians, Israel\u2019s security arms are putting together a plan to enable church leaders to worship at the holy site in the coming days,\u201d Netanyahu wrote on X.<\/p>\n
The Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, is also mostly closed because of safety issues, but authorities are letting up to 50 people at a time pray in an enclosed area adjacent to the plaza. <\/p>\n
Smaller churches, synagogues and mosques are open in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City if they are located within a certain distance of a bomb shelter deemed acceptable by Israel\u2019s military and if gatherings are kept under 50 people.<\/p>\n
Lidman and Winfield write for the Associated Press and reported from Tel Aviv and Rome, respectively. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEL AVIV\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The Israeli police prevented Catholic leaders from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Mass…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7036,16525,7226,3045,17746,37,72,17886,384,1189,17885,17888,17889,17884,17887],"class_list":{"0":"post-42067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-christians","9":"tag-church","10":"tag-city","11":"tag-freedom","12":"tag-holy-sepulchre","13":"tag-israel","14":"tag-israeli-military","15":"tag-israeli-police","16":"tag-italy","17":"tag-jerusalem","18":"tag-latin-patriarchate","19":"tag-major-holy-site","20":"tag-ongoing-iran-war","21":"tag-palm-sunday-mass","22":"tag-police-decision"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116315514614168485","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}