Italian PM Giorgia Meloni calls the prevention of a Palm Sunday mass by Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch an offence to religious freedom.
ROME: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has condemned Israeli police for preventing Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch from celebrating Palm Sunday mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The Latin Patriarchate stated that Israeli police stopped Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the archbishop with Catholic jurisdiction across Israel and the Palestinian territories, from entering the church to conduct the service.
In a statement, Meloni said the incident was “an offence not only to the faithful but to any community that respects religious freedom”.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced on social media platform X that he had summoned Israel’s ambassador over the incident.
Israeli police did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the AFP news agency about the incident.
Authorities in Israel banned large gatherings, including in places of worship, and capped public events at 50 people following the start of a US-Israeli offensive against Iran.
The Latin Patriarchate had also cancelled the traditional Palm Sunday procession from the Mount of Olives, which normally draws thousands of worshippers.
Pope Leo XIV, speaking after the Angelus prayer in Rome, paid tribute to “the Christians of the Middle East, who suffer the consequences of a terrible conflict and in many cases cannot fully live the rites of these holy days”.
