Israel Bars Catholic Officials from Praying at Holy Site, Outraging US Ambassador Mike Huckabee
By New York Post. Israel barred Catholic officials from privately praying at a historic Jerusalem church for the first time in centuries over security concerns involving the war — sparking outcry from US Ambassador Mike Huckabee.
Catholic higher-ups were already told they could not hold Mass at the city’s famed Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus is believed to have been crucified and buried, on the Palm Sunday.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Catholic patriarch of Jerusalem, and Father Francesco Ielpo, who oversees the sacred site, as well as two other priests were then on their way to the church for private prayer when they were halted by Israeli police early Sunday, Catholic officials said.
While Huckabee said it is reasonable for large gatherings to be put on pause amid Iran’s retaliatory bombardments, the US ambassador to Israel contended it is unacceptable for Israeli police to stop the four clergymen from making their own private visit to the church in Jersualem’s Old City.
“The action today by the Israel Nat’l Police to deny Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and 3 other priests from entering the Church to offer a blessing on Palm Sunday is an unfortunate overreach already having major repercussions around the world,” Huckabee wrote on X. (Read more from “Israel Bars Catholic Officials from Praying at Holy Site, Outraging US Ambassador Mike Huckabee” HERE)
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‘Manifestly Unreasonable’: Israeli Police Block Catholic Cardinal From Celebrating Palm Sunday Mass At Christ’s Tomb
By Daily Caller. Israeli police prevented a Catholic Cardinal from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at the church traditionally believed to have been built over site of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and burial, adding a new dynamic to the ongoing tensions in the Middle East.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem and the highest-ranked Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, was traveling with the official guardian of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Fr. Francesco Ielpo, OFM, when they “were stopped en route, while proceeding privately and without any characteristics of a procession or ceremonial act,” according to an official joint statement. . .
Warning of the “grave precedent” the incident risks setting as “billions … this week, look to Jerusalem,” the statement notes how seriously local Church officials have complied with the restrictions imposed by the civil authorities, despite disruptions and inconveniences. The restrictions have not always been evenly implemented, Reuters reported, citing local residents. Muslim preachers during Ramadan and a Western Wall cleaning crew ahead of Passover, for example, were allowed access to their respective holy sites in certain circumstances.
“The Heads of the Churches have acted with full responsibility,” the statement continues, “and, since the outset of the war, have complied with all imposed restrictions: public gatherings were cancelled, attendance was prohibited, and arrangements were made to broadcast the celebrations to hundreds of millions of faithful worldwide, who, during these days of Easter, turn their eyes to Jerusalem and to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.”
“Preventing the entry of the Cardinal and the Custos, who bear the highest ecclesiastical responsibility for the Catholic Church and the Holy Places, constitutes a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure,” the statement went on to criticize. “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 [sic].”
(Read more from “‘Manifestly Unreasonable’: Israeli Police Block Catholic Cardinal From Celebrating Palm Sunday Mass At Christ’s Tomb” HERE)
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr
