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Banned from entering Jerusalem Church/ Netanyahu: Latin Patriarch will have full access to holy site

2026-03-30 08:25:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Banned from entering Jerusalem Church/ Netanyahu: Latin Patriarch will have full

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem will now have full and immediate access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, after police prevented him from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass there.

Netanyahu said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who is the head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, had been asked not to enter the church due to concerns for his safety. He said Iran had repeatedly targeted Jerusalem's holy sites with ballistic missiles.

Cardinal Pizzaballa and the Reverend Francesco Ielpo were stopped outside the church believed to be the site of Jesus Christ's crucifixion as they were planning to hold a Mass to mark the start of Holy Week, church authorities said.

Cardinal Pizzaballa's office said it was the first time in centuries that a Latin Patriarch had left the holy site on Palm Sunday, which marks Christ's return to Jerusalem.

"This incident sets a grave precedent and disregards the sensitivities of billions of people around the world who have been looking towards Jerusalem this week. This hasty and fundamentally wrong decision, tainted by inappropriate considerations, represents an extreme departure from the fundamental principles of reasonableness, freedom of worship and respect for the status quo," the patriarchate said in a statement.

The Patriarchate said it had followed all imposed restrictions and had acted responsibly since the beginning of the war, adding that Sunday's decision was a clearly unreasonable and extremely disproportionate measure.

Netanyahu, on the other hand, said that believers of all religious faiths had been asked not to visit sites in Jerusalem's Old City, which had been subject to attacks by Iran, and that police had acted out of special security concerns in this case.

The city's traditional Palm Sunday procession had already been canceled due to restrictions on public gatherings. Israeli police said all holy sites in the Old City had been closed to worshippers since the US-Israeli war against Iran began on February 28 for security reasons and had rejected the patriarchate's request for an exemption from Palm Sunday.

Netanyahu said that holy sites belonging to Christians, Jews and Muslims had been repeatedly targeted by Iranian missile attacks in recent days. Meanwhile, late yesterday, the Israeli prime minister announced that he had instructed the relevant authorities to grant the Latin Patriarch full and immediate access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre so that he can hold services as he wishes.

The decision to block the cardinal's entry to Christianity's holiest site was criticized by some Western countries. The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said it was a difficult decision to understand or justify.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reacted to the incident and said that this action was an insult not only against believers, but against any community that recognizes religious freedom, while Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that he had summoned the Israeli ambassador to Italy for explanations.

French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the move and said it came in the context of the worrying increase in violations of the status of the Holy Sites in Jerusalem. /CNA