Jerusalem church shuts doors to public as war tensions loom

Catholic leaders conducted Holy Thursday prayers on April 2 at Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher without public attendance, as the city’s major holy sites remain closed due to the ongoing conflict involving Iran, AP reports.

The Latin Patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, led the ceremony in a solemn and empty church, reflecting the tense circumstances outside.

“There is a tension we cannot ignore: outside, the doors of the Holy Sepulcher are closed. War has turned this place into a refuge, an inside cut off from an outside weighed down by tension. We are here as within a womb of peace, while the world around us is being torn apart, and we wish we could change all of this,” Pizzaballa said.

Israel’s police confirmed they had approved a “limited prayer framework” for the church, and the church announced that the rest of Holy Week services will be restricted to clergy and essential staff only.

By Vafa Guliyeva