Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has granted Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa “full and immediate access” to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, hours after he was blocked by Israeli police from accessing the holy site for Palm Sunday services.
Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic leader in Jerusalem, and the Rev. Francesco Ielpo were stopped en route to the church were stopped en route to the church after Israeli police told them to turn back. Netanyahu said on X that Iran has “repeatedly targeted the holy sites” of all three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem with ballistic missiles, the three religions being Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
One of the strikes crashed “meters” from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, according to Netanyahu.
“To protect worshippers, Israel asked members of all faiths to temporarily abstain from worshipping at the Christian, Muslim and Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City,” Netanyahu said on Sunday. “Today, out of special concern for his safety, Cardinal Pizzaballa was asked to refrain from holding mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.”
Netanyahu added that while he understood the safety concerns, he instructed authorities to allow Pizzaballa to hold services “as he wishes” after initially being told to turn back.
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U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee described the police’s action as an “unfortunate overreach.” He said on X that churches, synagogues, and mosques throughout Jerusalem have met the safety restrictions of not hosting gatherings of more than 50 people.
Israel’s action received international attention, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, as well as other leaders, disapproving of the move. The latter leader, an ally of President Donald Trump, called it “unacceptable” for Christians and said war cannot “exclude followers of any religion from our shared holy city, Jerusalem.”
