Israeli police blocked Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Reverend Francesco Ielpo, the official guardian of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, from entering the church on Palm Sunday, inciting global outrage at the start of the Christian Holy Week.
Cardinal Pizzaballa, the head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, and the Reverend were stopped outside the church, believed to be the site of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. The Catholic leaders “were prevented from celebrating” the Palm Sunday Mass “for the first time in centuries”, according to an official statement by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
Israeli police said that all holy sites in Jerusalem, regardless of the faith, had been closed to worshippers in fear of Iranian strikes amidst its ongoing war with the US and Israel. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called the lack of access “an offence to religious freedom. The incident also reiterates the cultural significance that the city of Jerusalem holds for the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which has led to clashes over time.
“This incident is a grave precedent and disregards the sensibilities of billions of people around the world, who during this week, look to Jerusalem,” a statement from the patriarchate said. It also said that the heads of the churches had complied with all imposed restrictions, including cancelling gatherings, limiting attendance and arranging to broadcast Easter celebrations.
Late on Sunday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Patriarch would have “full and immediate access” to the Church. Here is what to know.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem
The 1.3 billion-strong Roman Catholic Church has several branches which recognise the Pope as the holy leader. These vary in language and ritual styles, music and chanting traditions, visual imagery used, and place of origin.
The Latin Catholic tradition is the largest sui iuris (autonomous) tradition. It is the lone Western Catholic church, with over 1.2 billion members, while the other 23 sui iuris churches, collectively referred to as the Eastern Catholic churches, have approximately 18 million members combined.
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The 11 highest-ranking bishops under the Catholic Church are called patriarchs. However, this role may be designated to a major archbishop, cardinal or other prelate.
There are presently six Eastern Catholic patriarchs, who head sui iuris churches. These churches are self-governing, with their own rules, customs and internal hierarchy. This means the authority of these patriarchs — Coptic, Maronite, Melkite, Syriac/Antioch, Chaldean/Baghdad and Armenian/Cilicia — applies to devotees regardless of their geographical location.
While the Pope is the patriarch of the Latin church, there are four titular Latin patriarchs, a permanent privilege administered to them by the pontiff. The patriarchs of Lisbon, Venice, the East Indies (India) and Jerusalem do not administer sui iuris churches and function as diocesan bishops, with their authority limited to Latin Catholic believers within their respective territories.
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is the diocesan archbishop of Latin Catholics in the Holy Land, which spans Palestine, Israel, Jordan and Cyprus.
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Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, holds a prayer service to mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (Ammar Awad/Pool Photo via AP)
Cardinal Pizzaballa, the present patriarch, also holds the office of the Grand Prior of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. He is regarded as the first resident Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem to be elevated to the rank of Cardinal while actively serving in that position.
The Holy Week during wartime
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, the most important week in the Christian calendar. Observed on the Sunday before Easter, it commemorates Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
Palm Sunday is a movable feast determined by when Easter falls that year, unlike Christmas, which is observed on the same calendar date annually, making the latter a fixed feast. Easter itself falls on the first Sunday after the full Moon that occurs on or after the spring equinox.
The Altar of the Crucifixion in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Wikimedia Commons
The Church of the Sepulchre, located in the Christian quarter of Jerusalem, occupies a special space in the Catholic tradition. Built in the 4th century, the church is home to the site of Jesus’s crucifixion at Calvary or Golgotha and the site of his empty tomb where he was buried and resurrected.
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The ongoing war has prevented believers across faiths from accessing sites of religious importance due to police restrictions. The Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem remained empty during Ramadan, while the Western Wall of Jerusalem, considered sacred in Judaism, saw few visitors ahead of Passover on Wednesday.
Justifying its rejection of a Palm Sunday exemption, Israeli police said, “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.”
