(LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, celebrated Mass for Holy Thursday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre after being denied access by Israeli police on Palm Sunday.
On the morning of April 2, Pizzaballa celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and washed the feet of 12 friars inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Just four days earlier, on Palm Sunday, Israeli police had stopped the cardinal and Father Francesco Ielpo, Custodian of the Holy Land, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, preventing them from celebrating Mass at the location on apparent security grounds linked to the ongoing war.
After the incident, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and local Israeli authorities reached an agreement allowing the liturgical celebrations for Holy Week and Easter Sunday inside the church.
This morning in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, His Beatitude Pierbattista Cardinal Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday and washed the feet of 12 friars. pic.twitter.com/zuaahmlEWm
— Catholic Sat (@CatholicSat) April 2, 2026
In Pizzaballa’s homily at the Mass, he noted that the challenges the faithful face as the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulchre remains closed to the public in the war-torn region but emphasized that the Word of God can give us peace even under these circumstances.
“We are in the place where a stone once sealed death. And yet today we are here to celebrate life,” the cardinal said. “There is a tension we cannot ignore: outside, the doors of the Holy Sepulchre are closed. War has turned this place into a refuge, an ‘inside’ cut off from an ‘outside’ weighed down by fear and strain.”
READ: Israeli police block Cdl. Pizzaballa from Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday
“We are here as within a womb of peace, while the world around us is being torn apart, and we wish we could change all of this,” he added. “And yet, here and now, the Word of God places before us a gesture that overturns all our human ways of thinking.”
Pizzaballa and Ielpo were stopped on Palm Sunday while proceeding privately, without a procession or public ceremony, and were compelled to turn back. As a consequence, for the first time in centuries, the heads of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land were unable to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
“This incident is a grave precedent,” the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land said in a joint press release, adding that the measure was “manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate” and constituted “an extreme departure from basic principles of reasonableness, freedom of worship, and respect for the Status Quo.”
The Patriarchate further underscored that, since the beginning of the war, Church authorities had “complied fully with all imposed restrictions: public gatherings were canceled, attendance (at liturgies) was prohibited, and arrangements were made to broadcast the celebrations” worldwide to ensure participation by the faithful.
Israeli police initially defended the clerics being blocked from entering the Holy Sepulchre, and Israeli Ambassador to Italy Jonathan Peled went further, insisting that Pizzaballa had been clearly informed in advance that access to places of worship was not permitted for security reasons and stressing that the Latin patriarch nevertheless chose not to comply with those instructions.
Later, Israeli President Isaac Herzog reported that he had spoken directly with the patriarch to express regret over the incident, attributing the situation to ongoing war threats, including missile attacks allegedly targeting Israeli territory.
After public reaction and diplomatic engagement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that measures were being put in place to allow access for religious authorities in the coming days. Netanyahu later confirmed that he had instructed relevant authorities to grant Pizzaballa “full and immediate access” to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The next day, March 30, the Latin Patriarchate and the Custody of the Holy Land issued a further joint statement confirming that “the matters concerning the Holy Week and Easter celebrations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre have been addressed and resolved in coordination with the relevant authorities.” Access for Church representatives was secured to allow the continuation of Holy Week and Easter liturgies at the Holy Sepulchre while “the existing restrictions on public gatherings remain in force for the time being.”
READ: Israeli ambassador expresses regret over ‘unfortunate incident’ at Holy Sepulchre
That same day, Israeli Ambassador to the Holy See Yaron Sideman expressed “regret” over the “unfortunate incident” of Pizzaballa being denied entry into the church during a meeting with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations.
