The Israeli Police have prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, head of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, as they made their way to celebrate the Palm Sunday Mass.

Pizzaballa was with the Custos of the Holy Land, the Rev. Francesco Ielpo, OFM, the official Guardian of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the patriarchate said in a statement, issued in Hoy Week, when Christians Holy Week, commemorates the last week of the earthly life of Jesus Christ.

"The two were stopped en route, while proceeding privately and without any characteristics of a procession or ceremonial act, and were compelled to turn back.

"As a result, and for the first time in centuries, the Heads of the Church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre."

The patriarchate said, "This incident is a grave precedent, and disregards the sensibilities of billions of people around the world who, during this week, look to Jerusalem."

The U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabe, who is also a Baptist minister, quoted by The Times of Israel, said that Israel's decision to keep senior Catholic clergymen from worshipping at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday is "difficult to understand or justify."

The decision by Israel's police, says Huckabee on X, "to deny Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and three other priests from entering the Church to offer a blessing on Palm Sunday is an unfortunate overreach already having major repercussions around the world."

"Home Front Command Guidelines restrict any gatherings to 50 people or less," he continued.

"The four representatives of the Catholic Church were well below that restriction. Statements from the Gov't of Israel indicate the action to prohibit Cardinal Pizzaballa entry to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was for safety reasons, but churches, synagogues and mosques throughout Jerusalem have met with the restrictions of 50 or less."

The Head of Churches said, "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."

They noted that the Heads of the Churches have acted with full responsibility and, since the outset of the war, have complied with all imposed restrictions.

They said that public gatherings were cancelled, attendance was prohibited, and arrangements were made to broadcast the celebrations to hundreds of millions of faithful worldwide, who, during these days of Easter, turn their eyes to Jerusalem and to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

"Preventing the entry of the Cardinal and the Custos, who bear the highest ecclesiastical responsibility for the Catholic Church and the Holy Places, constitutes a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure," they said.

They said that the hasty and fundamentally flawed decision, tainted by improper considerations, represents an extreme departure from basic principles of reasonableness, freedom of worship, and respect for the Status Quo.

"The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land express their profound sorrow to the Christian faithful in the Holy Land and throughout the world that prayer on one of the most sacred days of the Christian calendar has thus been prevented."