US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Sunday called the situation involving the Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and three other priests an "unfortunate overreach," after the Israeli police prevented the clerics from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre due to Home Front Command guidelines.
"While all Holy sites in the Old City are closed due to safety concerns for mass gatherings, including the Western Wall, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and Al Aqsa Mosque, the action today by the Israel National Police ... is an unfortunate overreach already having major repercussions around the world," Huckabee wrote in a social media post.
"Home Front Command Guidelines restrict any gatherings to 50 people or fewer. The 4 representatives of the Catholic Church were well below that restriction," he added, pointing out that "synagogues, and mosques throughout Jerusalem have met with the restrictions of 50 or less."
"For the Patriarch to be barred from entry to the Church on Palm Sunday for a private ceremony is difficult to understand or justify. Israel has indicated it will work with the Patriarch to accommodate a safe means of carrying out Holy Week activities," he concluded.
French President Emmanuel Macron also commented on the situation with a statement both in French, Hebrew, and Arabic, where he said that he expressed his "support for the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Christians in the Holy Land, who were prevented from celebrating the Sunday Mass of Palm Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre."
"I condemn the decision of the Israeli police, which joins a disturbing sequence of violations of the status quo of the holy places in Jerusalem," Macron added and concluded, "Freedom of worship in Jerusalem must be ensured for all religions."
Why was Pizzaballa blocked from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre?
Pizzaballa was prevented from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by the Israel Police, the Patriarchate announced on Sunday.
Pizzaballa, accompanied by the official Guardian of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Father Francesco Ielpo, had been proceeding to the church to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass when police stopped the pair and forced them to turn back.
Traditional Palm Sunday celebrations and annual procession into Jerusalem had been canceled due to ongoing security concerns and restrictions imposed by Israel’s Home Front Command.
However, the Patriarchate stated that Pizzaballa and Ielpo had been making their way "privately and without any characteristics of a procession or ceremonial act" when the police had stopped them.
Tzvi Jasper and Asher Smith contributed to this report.