Israeli police stop Latin Patriarch from entering Church of Holy Sepulcher
In a joint press launch, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custos of the Holy Land report they have been blocked from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem by Israeli police, calling it “a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure.”
Vatican News
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land have launched a joint assertion stating that, on the morning of Palm Sunday, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, along with the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Francesco Ielpo, OFM, the official Guardian of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, have been prevented from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, as they made their technique to rejoice the Palm Sunday Mass.
Released on Sunday, the statement mentioned each Church leaders have been stopped en route by Israeli police, “while proceeding privately and without any characteristics of a procession or ceremonial act” and have been pressured to show again.
“For the first time in centuries, the Heads of the Church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” the assertion famous.
It described the occasion as “a grave precedent” and disregarding “the sensibilities of billions of people around the world who, during this week, look at Jerusalem.”
Blocked regardless of compliance with restrictions
The assertion mentioned the Patriarch and the Custos of the Holy Land have acted with full duty because the begin of the struggle, complying with all restrictions requiring that public gatherings be cancelled, attendance prohibited, and preparations be made to broadcast the celebrations to lots of of hundreds of thousands of trustworthy worldwide “who, during these days of Easter, turned their eyes to Jerusalem and to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.”
“Grossly disproportionate measure”
Preventing the entry of Cardinal Pizzaballa and Fr. Ielpo, who maintain the very best ecclesiastical duty for the Catholic Church and Holy Places, “constitutes a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure.”
The joint assertion additional emphasised that “this hasty and fundamentally flawed decision, tainted by improper considerations, represents an extreme departure from basic principles of reasonableness, freedom of worship, and respect for the Status Quo.”
The Patriarch and Custos each expressed their “profound sorrow” to the Christian trustworthy within the Holy Land and world wide “that prayer on one of the most sacred days of the Christian calendar has thus been prevented.”
