Israel blocks Jerusalem Latin Patriarch from celebrating Mass at Holy Sepulchre

A standoff at one of Christianity’s holiest sites upended Palm Sunday in Jerusalem, with the Latin Patriarchate saying Israeli police barred the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — an unprecedented interruption to ceremonies it said had not occurred in centuries.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said police stopped Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Friar Francesco Ielpo as they walked toward the church, which stands on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead.

“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,” it said in a statement.

Israeli police said the restrictions were driven by security concerns tied to the US-Israeli war on Iran, adding that all holy places in Jerusalem’s Old City — including sites sacred to Christians, Muslims and Jews — had been closed to worshippers since the conflict began, especially those without bomb shelters.

“The Old City and the holy sites constitute a complex area that does not allow access for large emergency and rescue vehicles, which significantly challenges response capabilities and poses a real risk to human life in the event of a mass casualty incident,” police said.

Palm Sunday opens Holy Week, the most sacred stretch of the Christian calendar before Easter. In a normal year, the Old City would be thronged with worshippers, with Roman Catholics streaming through the Holy Sepulchre’s heavy wooden doors.

This year, however, Christians, Muslims and Jews alike have been unable to mark Easter, Ramadan or Passover in the usual way because of police restrictions.

During Ramadan, Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque was largely deserted, while only a small number of worshippers have visited Judaism’s Western Wall ahead of Passover, which begins on Wednesday.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni denounced the move by police, saying in a statement that refusing entry to religious leaders “constitutes an offence not only to believers but for every community that recognises religious freedom.”

Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on social media that he would summon Israel’s ambassador over the incident.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the decision by Israeli police, saying it “adds to the worrying increase in violations of the status of the Holy Places in Jerusalem.”

Spokespeople for Israel’s Foreign Ministry and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately comment.

Residents of the Old City and religious officials said the restrictions on worship have been enforced unevenly.

They said Muslim Waqf preachers were able to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, while cleaners were allowed in before Passover to remove prayer notes from the Western Wall, a ritual carried out each year.

On Sunday, Franciscan friars and other worshippers were also permitted to enter another Old City shrine, just a short walk through the narrow alleyways from the Holy Sepulchre, to observe Palm Sunday.

Farid Jubran, a spokesperson for the Patriarchate, said police had been told the Mass would take place privately and behind closed doors. “But still despite this communication they insisted on acting this way,” he said.

Pope Leo says God rejects prayers of leaders who wage wars

Pope Leo leading mass in St Peter’s Square

Earlier on Sunday, Pope ⁠Leo said God rejects the prayers of leaders who launch wars and have “hands full of blood”, delivering unusually sharp remarks.

Speaking to tens of thousands gathered in St Peter’s Square on Palm Sunday — the celebration that begins the holiest week ofthe year ahead of Easter for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics — the pontiff said Jesus cannot be invoked to defend any war.

“This is our God: Jesus, King ‌of Peace, who rejects ⁠war, whom no one can use to justify war,” Leo, the first US pope, told crowds in brilliant sunshine.

“(Jesus) does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood’,” he said, citing a ‌bible passage.

Pope Leo did not specifically name any world leaders, but he has intensified his criticism of the Iran war in ⁠recent weeks.

The pope, known for weighing his words carefully, has repeatedly urged an immediate ceasefire in the conflict and said on Monday that military ⁠airstrikes are ‌indiscriminate and should be banned.

Some US officials have used Christian language to justify the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran.