Israeli security forces are looking for ways to enable worship at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre during Holy Week after police prevented the Latin Patriarch from holding Mass there on Palm Sunday, citing security concerns.
“There was no malicious intent whatsoever, only concern for his safety and that of his party,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said. “Given the holiness of the week leading up to Easter for the world’s Christians, Israel’s security arms are putting together a plan to enable church leaders to worship at the holy site in the coming days.”
US Ambassador Mike Huckabee and Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, criticized the Israeli police action against the Patriarch, who’s essentially the Catholic archbishop responsible for the diocese that includes Israel and Palestinian territories. Kallas called it “violation of religious freedom.”
The Latin Patriarchate said on its website that police stopped the Patriarch and another church leader and compelled them to turn back on their way to celebrate Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified.
“As a result, and for the first time in centuries, the Heads of the Church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” the Patriarchate said. “This incident is a grave precedent, and disregards the sensibilities of billions of people around the world who, during this week, look to Jerusalem.”
Holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem have been closed by authorities to worshipers of all faiths since the beginning of the war with Iran, due to Home Front Command directives, and, in particular, locations that don’t have standard protected spaces, according to police. The directives were put in place due to missile attacks from Iran, which have killed at least 19 people in Israel.
Israeli police said the Patriarch’s request was reviewed Saturday and “it was clarified that it could not be approved due to the same considerations of protecting public safety and security.”
Huckabee called the denial an “unfortunate overreach already having major repercussions around the world.”
“For the Patriarch to be barred from entry to the Church on Palm Sunday for a private ceremony is difficult to understand or justify,” Huckabee said in a post on X.
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“Freedom of worship in Jerusalem must be fully guaranteed, without exception, for all faiths,” the EU’s Kallas said. “Jerusalem’s multi-religious character must be protected.”
Iran has repeatedly targeted the holy sites of Jerusalem with ballistic missiles and in one strike, missile fragments crashed meters from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Netanyahu’s office said.
