Israeli police prevented Catholic leaders from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Mass on the Christian holiday of Palm Sunday for the first time in centuries, the Latin Patriarchate said on Sunday.
Jerusalem’s major holy sites are closed because of the ongoing Iran war, including the church, as the city has come under frequent fire from Iranian missiles.
The Catholic Church called the police decision “a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure.” It prevented two of the church’s top religious leaders, including Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and the head of the Custos in the Holy Land, from celebrating Palm Sunday at the place where Christians believe Jesus was crucified.