The untold story behind Cardinal Pizzaballa’s barred entry to the Holy Sepulchre
On Palm Sunday, Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pizzaballa from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate mass.
The negative international response was immediate and widespread. Church authorities described it as the first such denial of a senior Catholic leader in Jerusalem from entering the site on the day commemorating Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.
Make no mistake, Israel can and should have done better. But through this mistake, lessons have been learned and will hopefully prevent such mistakes in the future.
However, initial reports were only about his denial of entry, without any context. But context matters, and subsequent reports shed light on this.
The incident occurred amid heightened security restrictions related to Israel’s ongoing war with Iran, and subsequent Iranian missile attacks across Israel and on Jerusalem specifically. These measures include strict limits on public gatherings across the Old City, affecting Christian Holy Week observances, as well as Jewish Passover and Islamic Ramadan celebrations. That crucial part has been left out.
Israel’s Home Front Command imposed sweeping rules: gatherings limited to 50 people in locations with adequate bomb shelter access. Jerusalem’s Old City’s narrow streets further complicate emergency vehicle access in the event of a mass-casualty event. It’s important to note that since the 1990s, bomb shelters have become mandatory in new constructions. But the Christian denominations that control the Church of the Holy Sepulchre could not come together to create a safe room in the holy site to protect against modern threats.
In other words, a bomb shelter could have avoided this conflict.
Security precautions limit the number of people who can assemble for public gatherings, including Passover prayers. Israeli Jews are being told to limit the number of guests at their Passover seders because of the ongoing war. The traditional festival “Birkat Kohanim” (Priestly Blessing) has also been restricted to what can draw thousands.
The context is even broader. Since Feb. 28, Israeli authorities have closed major holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City — including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall and the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa compound — for security reasons. Iranian missiles had targeted the area, with shrapnel striking near the Holy Sepulchre in one incident, and near the Al-Aqsa Mosque in another.
Just as many Jewish events have been canceled as Christian ones, which would include the recent Palm Sunday event.
Despite reported prior coordination, police reconsidered and halted the cardinal’s group en route under the prevailing security guidelines. The Patriarchate issued a statement describing this as “manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate.” Cardinal Pizzaballa later led an alternative prayer service at the Church of Gethsemane, outside the Old City.
Israeli authorities defended the decision on safety grounds. Police cited the Old City’s vulnerability to mass-casualty incidents. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated there was “no malicious intent whatsoever, only concern for his safety and that of his party.” It acknowledged the symbolic importance of Holy Week and announced that security agencies were developing a plan to be announced imminently to allow church leaders limited worship access.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog called Cardinal Pizzaballa to “express [his] great sorrow over this unfortunate incident in the Old City of Jerusalem,” and “reaffirmed the State of Israel’s unwavering commitment to freedom of religion for all faiths and to upholding the status quo at the holy sites of Jerusalem.”
Later, Cardinal Pizzaballa sounded a conciliatory tone, noting “there were no clashes, everything was done in a very polite manner.”
But before all of this context was made public, the damage had already been done. Swift international condemnation followed. The Vatican, Catholic leaders worldwide, and European governments voiced concern, even condemnation. Arab officials predictably decried it as further encroachment on “Christian rights in occupied East Jerusalem.”
This incident was placed under the microscope of those who claim that Christians and Christian rights are under attack, but without the broader context and reality of the war and necessary security precautions. The Palm Sunday incident highlighted how even minimal, pre-approved religious observance can clash with emergency protocols amid active missile threats from Iran.
An agreement for the remainder of Holy Week, learning from this incident, and potentially easing access for clergy while maintaining crowd limits, is imminent.
The problem, as this incident showed, is that if God forbid there were to be a security incident and mass casualty event at one of the Christian sites, Israel would have been blamed by the same people who are now criticizing it for maintaining these security precautions to begin with.
That’s just some of the context with Passover and Easter around the corner. Hopefully, when the war is behind us and things get “normal” again, protocol can be developed to prevent any similar future conflicts.
Jonathan Feldstein is President and CEO of the Genesis 123 Foundation and RunforZion.com
