Widespread outrage has erupted after Israeli authorities blocked Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, from making his way into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, escalating diplomatic tensions between Italy and Israel.
He was accompanied by Father Francesco Ielpo, the official Guardian of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Both were stopped and compelled to turn back.
The annual Palm Sunday procession and traditional celebrations in Jerusalem had already been canceled due to ongoing security concerns and restrictions imposed by Israel’s Home Front Command.
However, the Patriarchate reportedly said 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.
According to Patriarchate, 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.
Reacting to the incident, the Vatican announced that it has summoned Israel’s ambassador, describing the incident as unprecedented and a violation of freedom of worship and the status quo at holy sites.
Similarly, the Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, announced that the Italian authorities have summoned Israel’s ambassador over the incident.
“I have given instructions to summon the Ambassador of Israel to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tomorrow in order to obtain clarifications on the decision to prevent Cardinal Pizzaballa from celebrating Palm Sunday,” Tajani stated on X (formerly Twitter).
Tajani in another statement on X wrote, “I wish to express my heartfelt solidarity to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, and to the Custodian of the Holy Land, Father Francesco lelpo,
“It is unacceptable that they were prevented from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.”
He noted that for the first time, the Israeli police denied the leaders of the Catholic Church the possibility of celebrating Palm Sunday Mass in one of the holiest places for millions of believers around the world.
“I have given immediate instructions to our Ambassador in Israel to convey to the authorities in Tel Aviv the protest of the government and to confirm Italy’s position in defense, always and in every circumstance, of freedom of religion,” Tajani added.
Also, French President Emmanuel Macron, strongly condemned the blockage of senior Catholic cleric by the Israeli police, describing it as a sequence of violation of freedom of worship and status quo.
“I express my full support for the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Christians in the Holy Land, who were prevented from celebrating the Sunday Mass of Palm Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” Macron wrote on X.
“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.
“Freedom of worship in Jerusalem must be ensured for all religions,” the French leader added.
In the same vein, the State of Palestine said the action of the Israeli police constitutes a crime and illegal military measure that represents flagrant violation of people’s rights to freedom of worship.
In a statement on its X account, the State of Palestine wrote, “The Ministry affirms that this arbitrary prevention, which has not occurred for centuries regarding church leadership performing their religious rites, constitutes a crime and an illegal military measure, and represents a flagrant violation of the basic rights of the Palestinian people, foremost among them freedom of worship, as well as a disregard for the sentiments of hundreds of millions of people around the world, and an affront to the feelings of Christians and Muslims who share in the sanctity of the city of Jerusalem and its religious and historical status, and a violation of the current legal and historical status quo.”
However, reacting to the backlash, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office in a statement posted on X, justified the country’s action, claiming that the blockage of the cleric resulted from repeated target of holy sites by Iranian ballistic missiles attacks.
“Over the past several days, Iran has repeatedly targeted the holy sites of all three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem with ballistic missiles,” the Prime Minister’s Office’s statement read.
According to the statement, in one strike, missile fragments crashed meters from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
“As a result, Israel has temporarily asked worshippers from all faiths not to worship at the holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City to protect them,” the statement said.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office stressed that there was no malicious intent whatsoever, noting that only concern for Pizzaballa’s safety and that of his party necessitated the action.
“However, 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,” the statement added.
https://x.com/i/status/2038160976076234833
