“For the first time in centuries.” Israeli police did not let the Patriarch of Jerusalem enter the Holy Sepulcher for the Flower service

Israeli police prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and the priest of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher from entering the holy site to celebrate the Catholic Mass on Palm Sunday, “for the first time in recent centuries,” the Latin Patriarchate said, according to AFP.

“Both were stopped on the road, while traveling in a private capacity (…) and were forced to return,” said a joint statement by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land.

“Consequently, and for the first time in recent centuries, Church leaders were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday liturgy in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher,” adds the quoted source.

This development “sets a serious precedent and shows a lack of consideration for the feelings of billions of people around the world who, this week, turn their eyes to Jerusalem.”

At the start of the US-led offensive against Iran on February 28, Israeli authorities banned large gatherings, including in synagogues, churches and mosques, limiting public gatherings to about 50 people.

Palm Sunday, which opens Catholic Holy Week, commemorates Christ's final ascent to Jerusalem, where he was received days before his crucifixion and resurrection on Easter morning, according to the Gospels.

The Latin Patriarchate also announced the cancellation of the traditional Palm Sunday procession, which usually starts from the Mount of Olives towards Jerusalem and attracts thousands of worshipers every year.

“The leaders of the Churches have acted with all responsibility and, since the beginning of the war, have complied with all the restrictions imposed,” the Patriarchate said.

“Preventing the entry of the cardinal and the custodian, who hold the highest ecclesiastical responsibility for the Catholic Church and the Holy Places, constitutes an obviously unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure,” the statement said.

According to 2023 estimates by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, Christians made up more than 18% of the population of the Holy Land (the region that includes Jordan in addition to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories) at the time of the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, but now make up less than 2%, most of whom are Orthodox.