“I fully sympathize”
A statement in connection with these events was issued by the Metropolitan of Krakow, Chairman of the Committee of the Polish Episcopate for Dialogue with Judaism, Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś.
“I have become acquainted with the position of Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Br. Francesco Ielpo, OFM, Custos of the Holy Land, regarding preventing them from celebrating the Palm Sunday Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. I fully sympathize with him. And I do it in the name of, and not against, the dialogue of Christians and Jews,” Cardinal emphasized. Ryś in a statement published on the website of the Archdiocese of Krakow.
In recent days, Cardinal Pizzaballa reported that due to the war in the Middle East, some Holy Week celebrations in Jerusalem were canceled, including the traditional procession from the Mount of Olives on Palm Sunday. In a message to the faithful, he said that the procession would be replaced by a moment of prayer.
The Chrism Mass on Maundy Thursday, usually held in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, is scheduled to take place when the situation allows. Churches will remain open and pastors will try to enable the faithful to pray and participate in the liturgy in available forms, the dignitary noted.
On February 28, U.S. and Israeli forces launched a war against Iran, which in retaliation began attacking targets in the Middle East, including cities in Israel.
