Despite Iran missile guidelines, Netanyahu orders Latin patriarch be given full access to Holy Sepulchre

After Israel Police officers prevented a senior Catholic prelate from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu personally intervened to instruct the authorities to grant him immediate access.

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Francesco Ielpo, were stopped from entering the church. They had come to the site to celebrate the Palm Sunday Mass.

Netanyahu explained in a post on X that in recent days Iran had fired ballistic missile attacks targeting holy sites in Jerusalem, including areas near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Because of the threat, Israel temporarily asked people of all faiths to avoid worship at major religious sites in the Old City. Pizzaballa was also asked not to hold mass at the church.

Nevertheless, Netanyahu said that “as soon as I learned about the incident with Cardinal Pizzaballa, I instructed the authorities to enable the Patriarch to hold services as he wishes.”

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee posted to X on Monday: “Glad @IsraeliPM personally & promptly intervened to allow Cardinal Pizzaballa access to Church of Holy Sepulcher. ALL holy sites have restrictions due to Iranian missiles & safety issues, but private access on Palm Sunday was reasonable & issue now resolved.”

The Vatican demanded answers on Sunday about the incident, which the Israel Police said was due to “Home Front Command directives, life-saving restrictions apply to all holy sites in the Old City—for Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike.”

Pizzaballa later clarified in an interview, “It is true that any type of meeting had been suspended in places without shelter.” He said police acted with “respect and calm” after an unauthorized “brief and small private ceremony.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog earlier spoke about the incident, explaining that Iranian missiles had hit in the area of the Old City. He expressed “great sorrow over this morning’s unfortunate incident.”

Herzog “reaffirmed the State of Israel’s unwavering commitment to freedom of religion for all faiths and to upholding the status quo at the holy sites of Jerusalem.”

Some world leaders didn’t wait for clarification to condemn the move. French President Emmanuel Macron took to X to say that the decision to block the visit added “to a worrying series of violations of the status of holy places in Jerusalem.”

On Monday, Israeli police met with Pizzaballa to coordinate a scaled-down version of Holy Fire Saturday, an annual Christian ceremony held the day before Easter.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry posted to X on Monday, “A war where Iran bombs Jerusalem and the many holy sites located there. During Ramadan and now this week, Passover & Easter. Israel protects the holy sites of all religions.”