Israel Police officers prevented a senior Catholic priest and his entourage from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday because of security concerns related to incoming Iranian missiles, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, following condemnations by the Vatican and beyond.
“The incident stemmed from security concerns due to the continuous threat of missile attacks from the Iranian terror regime against the civilian population in Israel, following previous incidents in which Iranian missiles fell in the area of the Old City of Jerusalem in recent days,” Herzog wrote in a post on X relaying what he had told the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who had been denied access to the site.
Herzog said he called Pizzaballa to “express my great sorrow over this morning’s unfortunate incident in the Old City of Jerusalem,” in which Pizzaballa and the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Francesco lelpo, were prevented from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for Palm Sunday Mass.
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,” he wrote.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote on X that he was “grateful for the conciliatory and gracious statement” by Herzog.
The Vatican demanded answers on Sunday morning 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 and lelpo had come to the site to celebrate the Palm Sunday Mass.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, in a statement, reiterated that the measure was taken due to safety and security concerns, but added that, “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.”
French President Emmanuel Macron was among the world leaders who condemned the Israeli move, writing on X that the decision to block the visit added “to a worrying series of violations of the status of holy places in Jerusalem.”
