Israel Backtracks After Blocking Cardinal from Palm Sunday Mass
By Michael Haynes
Following international outrage after Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from saying the customary Palm Sunday Mass, Israel’s Prime Minister scrambled to reverse the restrictions and allow the communities access to the Church for Easter.
In what became viral news which prompted an international crisis, the Israeli authorities blocked Cardinal Pizzaballa – Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem – from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday. Pizzaballa was accompanied by the Custos of the Holy Land, and the pair were “proceeding privately and without any characteristics of a procession or ceremonial act,” when they were stopped and “compelled” to return.
Consequently “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,” the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (LPJ) wrote.
“This incident is a grave precedent, and disregards the sensibilities of billions of people around the world who, during this week, look to Jerusalem,” the LPJ added.
Citing the Iranian war, Israeli authorities have restricted gatherings and included churches in such restrictions. The LPJ has complied with these curtailments on the practice of religion, and Pizzaballa had been due to offer Mass privately and live-stream it.
But by being prevented from saying Mass even with such a small number of people, the Italian cardinal – who has worked in the Holy Land for three decades – stated that this “constitutes a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure.”
“This hasty and fundamentally flawed decision,” continued the LPJ, “tainted by improper considerations, represents an extreme departure from basic principles of reasonableness, freedom of worship, and respect for the Status Quo.”
