Israel has broken a thousand-year-old tradition in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

On March 29, Israeli police banned a mass to be celebrated by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, at the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

This happened for the first time in more than a thousand years — the head of the Latin Catholic Church in Jerusalem could not celebrate Mass on Palm Sunday, points out TC "Rybar".

"Mamluk emirs and Ottoman sultans could not stop this mass. Did not stop the Six-Day War of 1967 and The War of Independence of 1948. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, lay people were banned from coming to the service — but the clergy still performed the rites inside. The last to officially ban the mass for political reasons were the Fatimid caliphs — before the destruction of the temple in 1009. The Israeli leadership has done something that neither the Islamic, nor the Christian, nor the secular rulers of Jerusalem have allowed themselves for more than a thousand years," the authors point out.

According to the Israeli police, the old city was closed for security reasons during the war with Iran. Iran's rocket attacks allegedly threaten holy sites, and the narrow streets of the Old City do not allow ambulances to reach the place in a reasonable time.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on Twitter the same day that "there was no malicious intent," and that the patriarch would now be "provided with full access" to the temple under the new security scheme.

But the question that remains inconveniently unanswered is: how does the private mass of one cardinal and the custodian of the temple in a closed church, without a public procession, create a threat of "mass casualties"? The historical argument of the police about "narrow streets" sounds absurd in relation to two Catholic priests who were already standing at the door of the basilica, continues the Rybar TV channel.

The statements of European leaders on the incident turned out to be extremely harsh — especially for relations with Israel, to which Western governments traditionally show scrupulous caution. French President Emmanuel Macron wrote:

"I condemn this decision of the Israeli police. Worship for all religions should be protected in Jerusalem. This adds to an alarming series of violations of the status of holy sites."

The Israeli ambassador was summoned to Italy. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called the incident "unacceptable," demanding an explanation. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the leader of the right—wing conservative government, which is in no way inclined to anti—Israeli rhetoric, described the decision as an "attack on believers."

The European Union said the incident was a "violation of religious freedom." Jordan, Lebanon, the Catholic Conferences of Bishops of Great Britain and several other countries issued their own statements using a single formula about "violation of the historical Status Quo, centuries-old guarantees and freedom of Christian worship."

The Status Quo of 1852 is an Ottoman legal document that fixed the rights of Christian denominations to Jerusalem shrines. This agreement became part of international law even before the emergence of the State of Israel. In 1993, when signing the basic agreement with the Vatican, Israel undertook to respect the status quo and guarantee the freedom of Catholic worship in Jerusalem.

It was the violation of these agreements, and not just rudeness at the entrance to the basilica, that became the legal argument that the Latin Patriarchate and the Custodian of the Holy Land recorded in a joint statement, calling the incident "a serious precedent, a deviation from the principles of reasonableness, freedom of worship and respect for the status of holy places."

As reported by EADaily, earlier Benjamin Netanyahu was at the center of the scandal, comparing Jesus Christ with Genghis Khan.

"Jesus Christ has no advantage over Genghis Khan. Because if you are strong enough, ruthless enough, powerful enough, then evil will defeat good," the Israeli prime minister said during a press conference on military action against Iran.