The diocese of Jerusalem has denounced this Sunday that Israeli Police agents have prevented the access of the highest representative of the Catholic Church in the city, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, to the traditional Palm Sunday mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in an action of which they have pointed out that "there are no precedents for centuries".
In a note released this Sunday, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem states that the Israeli Police stopped the private entourage headed by Pizzaballa when it was heading to this emblematic place of worship, considered one of the most relevant temples of Christianity and a symbol of religious coexistence in Jerusalem, forcing them to turn back.
At the same checkpoint, the custodian of the Holy Land, Reverend Francesco Ielpo, responsible for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, was also rejected. The Israeli Police has not yet offered an official version of what happened, which has provoked a strong reaction from the Latin Patriarchate, which has described the episode as "a serious precedent that ignores the sensitivity of billions of people worldwide, whose gazes are focused on Jerusalem" during Holy Week.
The heads of the Churches of Jerusalem emphasize that, since the start of the Gaza war in 2023 and now in the context of the Iran war, they have acted "with full responsibility" accepting all restrictions imposed by the authorities.
In this regard, the Latin Patriarchate considers that "preventing the entry of the cardinal and the custodian, who hold the highest ecclesiastical responsibility for the Catholic Church and the Holy Places, constitutes a manifestly unreasonable and disproportionate measure".
The institution also adds that it is a decision "hasty and fundamentally erroneous, vitiated by inappropriate considerations, which represents an extreme deviation from the basic principles of reasonableness, freedom of worship and respect for the status quo".
As a consequence of this incident, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land "express their deep regret to the Christian faithful in the Holy Land and throughout the world for the impossibility of praying on one of the most sacred days of the Christian calendar".