“For the first time in centuries,” the Patriarch of Jerusalem was unable to celebrate the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday, March 29. The two clergymen “were stopped on the way and forced to turn back,” a joint statement from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land said on Sunday. This act “sets a serious precedent and shows a lack of consideration for the sensitivity of billions of people around the world who, during this week, turn their eyes toward Jerusalem. The Israeli police justified their decision by stating that the configuration of the Old City and holy sites constitutes “a complex area” that does not allow for rapid access by emergency services in case of an attack, which poses “a real risk to human lives. The Latin Patriarchate had canceled the traditional Palm Sunday procession, which usually starts from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem and attracts thousands of worshippers each year. “The Church leaders acted responsibly and, since the beginning of the war, have complied with all imposed restrictions,” the Patriarchate said.

While most shops and businesses in Jerusalem’s Old City remained closed, Palestinian Christians gathered at the Monastery of the Holy Savior to celebrate Palm Sunday. Pope Leo XIV, meanwhile, paid tribute on Sunday in Rome, after the Angelus prayer, to “Christians in the Middle East, who suffer the consequences of a horrific conflict and who, in many cases, cannot fully participate in the rites of these holy days.

It was only early Monday that Benjamin Netanyahu restored access to the holy site for Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Custos Francesco Ielpo, the head of the Franciscans for the Holy Land, both of whom had been prevented on Sunday by the Israeli police from reaching the Holy Sepulchre."

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