(NBC News) World leaders have voiced concern after Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday.
Pizzaballa had attempted to travel to the church within Jerusalem’s Old City with the Rev. Francesco Ielpo, the church’s official guardian, to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass, according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
It said the two were stopped en route and compelled to turn back, marking “the first time in centuries” that Palm Sunday Mass could not be celebrated at the church, which is the holiest site in Christianity, built where many believe Jesus was crucified.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that police had intervened to block Pizzaballa “out of special concern for his safety,” claiming that “there was no malicious intent whatsoever.”
The statement noted that all holy sites in the Old City, which is home to Christian, Muslim and Jewish sacred sites, were closed to worshippers when the war broke out with Iran in February.
“Iran has repeatedly targeted the holy sites of all three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem with ballistic missiles. In one strike, missile fragments crashed meters from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” Netanyahu’s office said.
“Freedom of worship will continue to be upheld, subject to necessary restrictions,” Israeli police said in a statement.
The formal Palm Sunday procession, which usually draws thousands of Christians, was canceled last week in line with a ban on large gatherings imposed by Israel, with the Latin Patriarchate citing “restrictions imposed by the conflict.”
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said the two men were “proceeding privately and without any characteristics of a procession or ceremonial act.”
It said the incident sets “a grave precedent” and disregards “the sensibilities of billions of people around the world who, during this week, look to Jerusalem.”
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on X Sunday, “For the Patriarch to be barred from entry to the Church on Palm Sunday for a private ceremony is difficult to understand or justify.”
In a statement Sunday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed “solidarity” with Pizzaballa, Ielpo and others “whom Israeli authorities prevented today from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at the Holy Sepulchre.”
“Denying entry to the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Custos of the Holy Land, especially on a solemnity central to the faith such as Palm Sunday, constitutes an offense not only against believers but against every community that recognizes religious freedom,” she added.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the decision of the Israeli police on X, which he said “joins a worrying series of violations of the status of the holy sites in Jerusalem.”
Ahead of the incident, Pope Leo XIV had opened his Palm Sunday address at the Vatican by emphasizing that his prayers were “more than ever with the Christians of the Middle East.” He reiterated the message in an X post after the incident, without addressing the event directly.
Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said the incident was “unacceptable and offensive,” while the country’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would summon the ambassador of Israel to “obtain clarifications” on what occurred.
Steffen Seibert, Germany’s ambassador to Israel, said on X that the incident was “painful to all Christians,” while the vice president of the European Parliament, Pina Picierno, said the incident constituted “a grave, unprecedented, and unacceptable violation of religious freedom.”
Following the outcry, Netanyahu’s office said that authorities would put together “a plan to enable church leaders to worship at the holy site in the coming days” as the rest of Easter week is marked.
Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem, when his followers laid palm branches in his path.
