Latin Patriarch will have access to Jerusalem holy site after police stopped entry. 9 hours ago. Maia Davies. Getty Images. Israel’s prime minister has said the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem will now have “full and immediate access” to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, after police earlier prevented him from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass there.. Benjamin Netanyahu said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who is head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, had been asked not to enter the church out of concern for his safety. He said Iran had repeatedly targeted Jerusalem’s holy sites with ballistic missiles.. The decision to block the cardinal from entering Christianity’s most sacred site had been criticised by several Western nations.. The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said it was an “unfortunate overreach” that was “difficult to understand or justify”.. Cardinal Pizzaballa and the Reverend Francesco Ielpo were stopped outside the church believed to be the site of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, as they were planning to hold a Mass to mark the start of Holy Week, church authorities said.. Cardinal Pizzaballa’s office said it was “the first time in centuries” a Latin Patriarch had been turned away from the holy site on Palm Sunday, which marks Christ’s return to Jerusalem.. He and Rev Ielpo had been “compelled” to turn back from the church, where Christ was also believed to have been buried and subsequently resurrected, it 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,” a statement from the patriarchate 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.”. The patriarchate said it had followed all “imposed restrictions” and acted responsibly since the war began, adding that Sunday’s decision was “a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure”.. Cardinal Pizzaballa later said while he did “not want to force the issue”, “we had not asked for anything public, just a brief and small private ceremony”.. “We want to use this situation to try to clarify better in the coming days what to do, in respect for everyone’s safety but also in respect for the right to prayer,” he added.. Netanyahu said worshippers of “all faiths” had been asked not to visit sites in Jerusalem’s Old City, which had been subject to strikes from Iran, and that police had acted out of “special” safety concerns in this instance.. The traditional Palm Sunday procession into the city had already been cancelled due to restrictions on public gatherings.. Israeli police said all holy sites in the Old City had been closed to worshippers since the US-Israel war against Iran began on 28 February for security reasons, and that it had rejected the patriarchate’s request for a Palm Sunday exemption.. Netanya
