On the morning of Palm Sunday, the Israeli police prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, together with Fr. Francesco Ielpo, the official Custos of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem as they were on their way to the Palm Sunday Mass. In a statement released on Sunday, it was said that, as they were proceeding privately and without any procession or any signs of a ceremonial act toward the church, they were forced to turn back. “For the first time in centuries, the heads of the Churches were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” the statement noted.
The statement described the incident as a serious precedent, disregarding the sensitivities of billions of people around the world who are looking toward Jerusalem this week. The statement also said that since the beginning of the war, the Patriarch has acted with full responsibility, observing all restrictions requiring the cancellation of public gatherings, the prohibition of participation, and the organization of broadcasts of the celebrations for hundreds of millions of faithful throughout the world.
Preventing the entry of Cardinal Pizzaballa and Fr. Ielpo, who bear the highest ecclesiastical responsibility for the Catholic Church and the holy places, is clearly unreasonable and deplorable.
The joint statement further emphasized that this hasty and fundamentally flawed decision, tainted by inappropriate considerations, constitutes an extreme departure from the fundamental principles of reasonableness, freedom of worship, and respect for the status quo.
Both Cardinal Pizzaballa and Fr. Ielpo expressed their deep sorrow for the Christians in the Holy Land.
Let us pray for the Christians of the Holy Land.