'Iran has repeatedly targeted...': Netanyahu allows Catholic leaders to pray at Jerusalem after backlash
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'Iran has repeatedly targeted...': Netanyahu allows Catholic leaders to pray at Jerusalem after backlash")
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Photograph: (AFP)
Netanyahu allowed the Latin Patriarch access to Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre after police barred him on Palm Sunday, sparking global outrage. Israel cited Iran-linked security threats, while the EU and Catholic Church condemned the move as a violation of religious freedom.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday (Mar 30) said that the Latin Patriarch would get "full and immediate access" to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, after police denied him entry on Palm Sunday. In his statement, Netanyahu blamed Iran in an attempt to justify the ban imposed by Israeli Police. Israeli police had prevented the senior Catholic cleric from entering Christianity's most sacred site to celebrate Palm Sunday mass over what Netanyahu had said were security concerns, provoking protests from the European Union and several European countries.
"I have instructed the relevant authorities that Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch, be granted full and immediate access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem," Netanyahu shared a post on X. The Israeli PM elaborated on Israel's security concerns in his post.
"Over the past several days, Iran has repeatedly targeted the holy sites of all three monotheistic religions in Jerusalem with ballistic missiles," he wrote. “In one strike, missile fragments crashed meters from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.” It was to protect worshippers that Israel had asked people of all faiths to "temporarily abstain" from worshipping at all the holy sites in Jerusalem's Old City, he added.
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How EU and the Catholic Church reacted?
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After Israel's initial ban, EU had reacted sharply with EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas saying that it is a “violation of religious freedom.” “The decision by Israeli police to bar Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday constitutes a violation of religious freedom and long-standing protections governing holy sites,” she said. “Freedom of worship in Jerusalem must be fully guaranteed, without exception, for all faiths. Jerusalem’s multi-religious character must be protected,” she added in a social media post.
The Catholic Church in its statement said that Pizzaballa and Francesco lelpo, the official Guardian of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, were both prevented from entering the church. “As a result, and 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. This incident is a grave precedent and disregards the sensibilities of billions of people around the world, who, during this week, look to Jerusalem,” the statement said.
