Israel preventing mass by Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch an ‘offence to the faithful’: Italy

AFP | Rome

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Israeli police actions preventing Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch from celebrating Palm Sunday mass was “an offence to the faithful” in a statement.

Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, separately said on X he had summoned Israel’s ambassador over the incident.

The Patriarchate of Jerusalem earlier said its head, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa — an archbishop with Catholic jurisdiction across Israel and the Palestinian territories — was prevented by Israeli police from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to conduct the mass.

“This morning, the Israeli Police prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, together with the Custos of the Holy Land, the Most Reverend Fr. Francesco Ielpo, OFM, the official Guardian of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, as they made their way to celebrate the Palm Sunday Mass,” a statement from the Patriarchate said.

It said the two were stopped while proceeding privately without any characteristics of a procession or ceremonial act, and had to turn back.

“As a result, and for the first time in centuries, the Heads of the Church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” the statement said.

“This incident is a grave precedent and disregards the sensibilities of billions of people around the world, who during this week, look to Jerusalem.”

Since the Middle East war began on February 28, Israeli authorities have banned large gatherings, including at synagogues, churches and mosques.

Public gatherings are limited to around 50 people.

The Latin Patriarchate had already announced it had cancelled the traditional Palm Sunday procession that normally runs from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem and draws thousands of worshippers each year.

“Preventing the entry of the Cardinal and the Custos, who bear the highest ecclesiastical responsibility for the Catholic Church and the Holy Places, constitutes a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure,” it said.

“This hasty and fundamentally flawed decision, tainted by improper considerations, represents an extreme departure from basic principles of reasonableness, freedom of worship, and respect for the status quo.”