By Monday, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land said in a Holy Monday joint press release that access for church representatives had been secured so liturgies and ceremonies could go forward at the basilica, even as broader limits on public gatherings remained in force. The churches said services would continue to be broadcast live to faithful in the Holy Land and around the world.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre remains central to Holy Week
The dispute erupted after Reuters reported that Israeli police turned back Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Friar Francesco Ielpo as they tried to reach the church for Palm Sunday Mass. In a joint statement issued after the incident, the churches called the move a “grave precedent” and said it was the first time in centuries that their top leaders had been prevented from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at the shrine Christians revere as the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and resurrection.
The Associated Press reported that Israeli police later described Monday’s arrangement as a limited prayer framework meant to “enable freedom of worship” while preserving emergency access and crowd control in the Old City’s narrow lanes. The block came after church leaders had already canceled the traditional Palm Sunday procession and shifted to pared-back rites because of the war with Iran, making the police decision a further escalation of already reduced Holy Week observances.
Criticism quickly spread beyond Jerusalem. U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni were among the public figures who condemned the move, helping turn what began as a local security decision into a diplomatic and religious controversy within hours. The March 30 church statement also thanked Israeli President Isaac Herzog and other officials for intervening after the block.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre disputes are not new
The confrontation fits a longer pattern of access battles at the church. In 2023, Reuters reported on police caps for the Orthodox Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, prompting church leaders to accuse authorities of imposing heavy-handed restrictions on Christian worship in the Old City. In 2022, Reuters also reported on attendance limits for the same ceremony, after officials initially sought far smaller numbers than the crowds that usually pack the church during Easter week.
And in 2018, the church was shut in a rare protest over Israeli tax and land measures, showing how quickly disputes around the Holy Sepulchre can spill into politics and diplomacy. That history helps explain why Sunday’s block resonated so sharply: even with wartime security fears hanging over Jerusalem, church leaders saw it as part of a broader struggle over access, worship rights and the fragile status quo in the Old City.
For now, the immediate crisis has eased rather than ended. Holy Week rites are expected to continue in a narrower form, with clergy access secured and live broadcasts promised while public celebrations remain constrained by war rules. The arrangement keeps the core liturgies on track, but public observance remains far smaller than usual at one of Christianity’s holiest sites.
