{"id":205821,"date":"2026-03-30T02:25:47","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T02:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/israeli-police-block-catholic-figures-from-palm-sunday-mass-at-jerusalems-holy-sepulchre-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T02:25:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T02:25:47","slug":"israeli-police-block-catholic-figures-from-palm-sunday-mass-at-jerusalems-holy-sepulchre-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/israeli-police-block-catholic-figures-from-palm-sunday-mass-at-jerusalems-holy-sepulchre-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli police block Catholic figures from Palm Sunday Mass at Jerusalem's Holy Sepulchre – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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World leaders have voiced concern after Israeli police<\/a> prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa<\/a>, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday.
Pizzaballa had attempted to travel to the church within Jerusalem\u2019s Old City with the Rev. Francesco Ielpo, the church\u2019s official guardian, to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass<\/a>, according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
It said the two were stopped en route and compelled to turn back, marking \u201cthe first time in centuries\u201d that Palm Sunday Mass could not be celebrated at the church, which is the holiest site in Christianity, built where many believe Jesus was crucified.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office said in a statement that police had intervened to block Pizzaballa \u201cout of special concern for his safety,\u201d claiming that \u201cthere was no malicious intent whatsoever.\u201d
The statement noted that all holy sites<\/a> in the Old City, which is home to Christian, Muslim and Jewish sacred sites, were closed to worshippers when the war broke out with Iran in February.
\u201cIran has repeatedly targeted the holy sites of all three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem with ballistic missiles. In one strike, missile fragments crashed meters from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,\u201d Netanyahu\u2019s office said.
\u201cFreedom of worship will continue to be upheld, subject to necessary restrictions,\u201d Israeli police said in a statement.
The formal Palm Sunday procession, which usually draws thousands of Christians, was canceled last week in line with a ban on large gatherings imposed by Israel, with the Latin Patriarchate citing \u201crestrictions imposed by the conflict.\u201d
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said the two men were \u201cproceeding privately and without any characteristics of a procession or ceremonial act.\u201d
It said the incident sets \u201ca grave precedent\u201d and disregards \u201cthe sensibilities of billions of people around the world who, during this week, look to Jerusalem.\u201d
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Sunday on X<\/a>, \u201cFor the Patriarch to be barred from entry to the Church on Palm Sunday for a private ceremony is difficult to understand or justify.\u201d
In a statement Sunday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni<\/a> expressed \u201csolidarity\u201d with Pizzaballa, Ielpo and others \u201cwhom Israeli authorities prevented today from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at the Holy Sepulchre.\u201d
\u201cDenying entry to the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Custos of the Holy Land, especially on a solemnity central to the faith such as Palm Sunday, constitutes an offense not only against believers but against every community that recognizes religious freedom,\u201d she added.
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the decision of the Israeli police on X, which he said \u201cjoins a worrying series of violations of the status of the holy sites in Jerusalem.\u201d
Ahead of the incident, Pope Leo XIV<\/a> had opened his Palm Sunday address at the Vatican by emphasizing that his prayers were \u201cmore than ever with the Christians of the Middle East.\u201d He reiterated the message in an X post after the incident, without addressing the event directly.
Italy\u2019s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said the incident was \u201cunacceptable and offensive,\u201d while the country\u2019s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he would summon the ambassador of Israel to \u201cobtain clarifications\u201d on what occurred.
Steffen Seibert, Germany\u2019s ambassador to Israel, said on X that the incident was \u201cpainful to all Christians,\u201d while the vice president of the European Parliament, Pina Picierno, said the incident constituted \u201ca grave, unprecedented, and unacceptable violation of religious freedom.\u201d
Following the outcry, Netanyahu\u2019s office said that authorities would put together \u201ca plan to enable church leaders to worship at the holy site in the coming days\u201d as the rest of Easter week is marked.
Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus Christ\u2019s entrance into Jerusalem, when his followers laid palm branches in his path.
Freddie Clayton is a freelance journalist based in London.\u00a0
Matteo Moschella is a London-based reporter for NBC News’ Social Newsgathering team.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeWorld leaders have voiced concern after Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday.Pizzaballa had attempted to travel to the church within Jerusalem\u2019s Old City with the Rev. Francesco Ielpo, the church\u2019s official guardian, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":205822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-205821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}