Italian Foreign Ministry summons Israeli ambassador for denying Patriarch entry to Church

The Israeli ambassador has been summoned to the Italian Foreign Ministry to clarify an incident that occurred at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This was announced by Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, according to TASS.

Earlier, Israeli police prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and the Custodian of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Ielpo, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Mass on Palm Sunday. This holiday is celebrated a week before Easter, which the Roman Catholic Church celebrates on April 5, 2026.

"I have ordered the Israeli Ambassador to be summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 30 to explain the decision to ban Cardinal Pizzaballa from celebrating [Mass] on Palm Sunday," Tajani wrote in X.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni previously called the ban on the Latin Patriarch and Custodian of the Holy Land entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the feast "an insult not only to the faithful, but to any community that recognizes freedom of religion." A joint statement from the two Catholic hierarchs noted that this is the first such precedent in centuries.