Holy Sepulchre Easter services to go ahead as Church leaders reach deal with police |
Catholic officials in Jerusalem said Monday that prayer arrangements for Holy Week and Easter have been resolved with Israeli authorities, ending a spat over the issue as police sought to implement restrictions amid Iranian missile fire.
The day before, police stopped Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Father Francesco Ielpo, custos of the Holy Land, who are the top Catholic figures in the region, from praying at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the Palm Sunday holiday — an incident which blew up into an international furor.
However, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land said that religious services “have been addressed and resolved” after a late-night meeting between officials from the Christian denominations in Jerusalem, Israel Police, and other Israeli authorities.
“In agreement with the Israel Police,” said the two Catholic bodies, “access for representatives of the Churches has been secured in order to conduct the liturgies and ceremonies and to preserve the ancient Easter traditions at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.”
The services will be broadcast live in order to comply with Home Front Command restrictions on public gatherings.
They thanked President Isaac Herzog for his “prompt attention and valued intervention.”
“The Church remains in continuous dialogue with the authorities, including the Israel Police,” they said. “We pray and hope for an end to the tragic war affecting the region, mindful of the heavy consequences it has on all.”
Herzog wrote on X to “warmly welcome the understandings reached this morning between the commanders of the Israel Police in Jerusalem and the Latin Patriarch, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, during their meeting together with a representative of the Office of the President of Israel to settle arrangements for Easter prayers in the Old City of Jerusalem.”
I warmly welcome the understandings reached this morning between the commanders of the @IsraelPolice in Jerusalem and the Latin Patriarch @LPJerusalem, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, during their meeting together with a representative of the Office of the… — יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) March 30, 2026
I warmly welcome the understandings reached this morning between the commanders of the @IsraelPolice in Jerusalem and the Latin Patriarch @LPJerusalem, His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, during their meeting together with a representative of the Office of the…
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) March 30, 2026
“On behalf of the State of Israel,” he continued, “I extend my warmest wishes for the upcoming Easter holiday to the Latin Patriarch, to our Christian sisters and brothers in the Holy Land, and to our Christian friends across the Middle East and around the world.”
Earlier, police also announced that an agreement had been reached on prayer services at the church, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that he had ordered that Pizzaballa “be granted full and immediate access” to the church.
Herzog had spoken with Pizzaballa on Sunday and sent a representative to the meeting between church officials and police.
Police had blocked Pizzaballa and Ielpo from the church on Palm Sunday, which commemorates the day Jesus traditionally rode into Jerusalem, where he was greeted by cheering crowds bearing palm fronds, according to the New Testament. The day marks the start of Holy Week, which ends with Easter, this year on April 5.
Initially, police as well as Netanyahu’s office defended the refusal as a security measure amid the war with Iran, which has seen missile fragments impact the Old City, including near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The decision drew international condemnation from figures including US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron.
But later in the day, two police officials — Jerusalem District Commander Deputy Commissioner Avshalom Peled and David Sub-District Commander Dvir Tamim — met with a representative of the Latin Patriarchate. They agreed on a framework that will allow all Christian denominations to worship in the church while the Iran war continues, said the police.
Since the start of the US-Israel war against Iran on February 28, Israeli authorities have, for security reasons, barred access to the Old City for everyone other than residents or shop owners.
The restrictions extend to all holy sites, including the Western Wall, Al-Aqsa Mosque and Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which have been closed since March 6. Gatherings in Jerusalem and many other places nationwide remain limited to 50 people, provided a shelter can be reached in time.
Earlier this month, a fragment of an intercepted Iranian missile impacted in Jerusalem’s Old City, around 400 meters from the Western Wall and Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount.
Extremist intimidation of Christians
The controversy over services at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre came as an annual study released by an Israeli group found there was a “continued and expanding pattern of intimidation and aggression” against Christian clergy and Church property in 2025.
The 155 documented incidents last year “reflect a persistent and worrying pattern in which both overt violence and everyday humiliations accumulate into a broader atmosphere of exclusion,” said the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue’s report, titled “Attacks on Christians in Israel and East Jerusalem.”
Most of the incidents were physical attacks, mostly commonly spitting in the direction of easily identifiable Christian clergy.
Regarding spitting, “all attackers responsible for incidents tracked during the reporting period and in previous years are Jewish,” the report said.
Most assailants are teenagers or young adults, either “ultra-Orthodox ultra-nationalist individuals” who are responsible for the less violent incidents, or “marginalized individuals on the social periphery” who carry out violent assaults or vandalism.
“Clergy in areas such as Mount Zion and the Armenian Quarter report that harassment has become so routine that stepping outside can carry an almost certain risk of abuse,” according to the center.
There were 28 known cases of verbal harassment in 2025, more than double the number in the previous year.
While each incident is easily dismissed, said the report, “collectively, however, they are humiliating and exhausting, producing a climate in which Christians feel increasingly unwelcome, pressured to conceal their identity, and uncertain about the future of their communities.”
The report pointed to a worrying trend – “harassment and violence against Christians are continuing within a socio-political climate that is increasingly intolerant of diversity and more assertive in exclusivist national-religious claims.”
Clergy in Jerusalem told researchers that police are often “supportive and responsive,” but that most cases are closed without the perpetrators being held accountable.
Incidents have continued into 2026. Earlier this month, police opened an investigation after nationalist graffiti was found on the walls of the Church of the Visitation, a prominent Christian holy site in Jerusalem.
Christians in Israel are also caught up in broader trends. Many live in Arab towns, where violent crime and murder are a spiraling problem. There has also been a rise in attacks by ultra-nationalist Jewish youth against Palestinians, some of whom are Christian.
Safety concerns during wars and new regulations in the wake of the 2021 Mount Meron tragedy often constrain central Christian ceremonies, and are seen by communities as being applied without sensitivity toward their needs.
The Rossing Center recommended new training for police, the creation of designated liaisons in the municipal and national governments, improved education about Christianity in the public Israeli system, and direct engagement with the national-religious community.
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Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Pierbattista Pizzaballa