Netanyahu orders police to release cardinal and authorize mass at Church of the Holy Sepulcher

‘Netanyahu did everything possible to support Hamas in Gaza’, according to Ami Ayalon GETTY IMAGES The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered this Sunday (29) that the police allow Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa access to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in Jerusalem, and authorize the holding of religious celebrations there. The decision comes after the Israeli police prevented the cardinal from entering the church to celebrate Mass on Palm Sunday, at the beginning of Holy Week, an episode classified by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem as unprecedented “in centuries”. “As a result, and for the first time in centuries, Church leaders were prevented from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” it said in a statement. Governments from several countries criticized the impediment of religious celebrations in one of the main sacred sites of Christianity. Brazil classified the measure as serious and contrary to freedom of worship, and leaders from countries such as France, Spain, Italy and the United States also spoke out, demanding respect for religious sites in Jerusalem (read more below). According to Netanyahu, the guidance for release was given as soon as he became aware of the case. In a post on social media, the prime minister stated that he had instructed authorities to guarantee “full and immediate access” to the cardinal and allow him to perform religious services. “I have instructed the competent authorities to grant Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch, full and immediate access to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. In recent days, Iran has repeatedly attacked the holy sites of the three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem with ballistic missiles. In one of the attacks, missile fragments fell just meters from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. To protect the faithful, Israel has asked members of all religions to temporarily refrain from attending Christian holy sites, Muslims and Jews in the Old City of Jerusalem,” he wrote. The Israeli government had justified the impediment based on security concerns, in the midst of the war with Iran. “Today, out of special concern for his security, Cardinal Pizzaballa was asked not to celebrate Mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. While I understand this concern, as soon as I became aware of the incident with Cardinal Pizzaballa, I instructed the authorities to allow the Patriarch to carry out religious celebrations as he wished”, he added. Police said the Old City’s holy sites were closed to worshipers due to the risk of attacks and difficulties in accessing emergency teams. Cardinal Pizzaballa was stopped while heading to the church, built on the site where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus was crucified and resurrected. Still according to the Patriarchate, the mass would be held privately, but access was still denied. A person walks near the Church of the Holy Sepulcher REUTERS/Ammar Awad Restrictions affect Easter, Ramadan and Pesach Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, the most important week in the Christian calendar, which precedes Easter. The Old Town is usually busy, with Roman Catholics passing through the imposing wooden doors of the Holy Sepulchre. This year, Christians, Muslims and Jews were unable to celebrate Easter, Ramadan or Passover as usual due to police restrictions. The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem was practically empty during Ramadan, and few worshipers attended the Western Wall, a sacred site for Judaism, as Passover approached on Wednesday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement: “There was no malicious intent, just concern for his (Pizzaballa) safety.” Residents say that supervision does not apply to everyone See the videos that are trending on g1 Residents of Cidade Velha and religious authorities stated that police restrictions on religious worship were not applied consistently. They noted that Muslim Waqf preachers were able to access Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, and that cleaning staff were allowed to remove prayer inscriptions from the Western Wall, an annual ritual, before Passover. On Sunday, Franciscan friars and faithful were also allowed into another Old City sanctuary, a short walk through the narrow alleys of the Old City from the Holy Sepulchre, to celebrate Palm Sunday. A Reuters photograph showed about a dozen people bowing their heads in prayer and carrying palm branches. Farid Jubran, spokesman for the Patriarchate, said police had been informed that the mass would be held privately and behind closed doors. “But even so, despite this communication, they insisted on acting this way,” he said. International authorities take a stance In a statement released this Sunday afternoon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the action of the Israeli police, mentioning that the action took place amid restrictions also related to Ramadan. “In noting the extreme gravity of such recent actions, contrary to the historical status quo of the Christian and Islamic holy sites of Jerusalem and the principle of freedom of worship, Brazil recalls the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of July 19, 2024, which concluded that Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is illicit and that that country is not entitled to exercise sovereignty in any part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”, says the communicated. The Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, criticized the impediment of the celebration of Palm Sunday in Jerusalem. “Netanyahu prevented Catholics from celebrating Palm Sunday in holy places in Jerusalem. Without any explanation or justification. We condemn this unjustified attack on religious freedom and demand that Israel respect the diversity of beliefs and international law,” he wrote in X. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni criticized the police action, saying in a statement that denying entry to religious leaders “constitutes an offense not only to the faithful, but to all communities that recognize religious freedom.” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on social media that he would summon the Israeli ambassador to provide clarification on the incident. French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the Israeli police’s decision, which, according to him, “adds to the worrying increase in violations of the statute of the Holy Places in Jerusalem.” US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said it was “very difficult to understand or justify” banning the cardinal from entering the church.

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