Israel police block Latin patriarch from Holy Sepulchre over security concerns

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Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa

The Patriarchate said it marked the first time in centuries that church leaders were prevented from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at the site.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israel Police prevented Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass, citing security concerns tied to the ongoing war with Iran, according to statements from church authorities and Israeli officials, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said Pizzaballa, accompanied by Father Francesco Ielpo, the official guardian of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, was stopped by police and forced to turn back while making his way to the church “privately and without any characteristics of a procession or ceremonial act.”

The Patriarchate said it marked the first time in centuries that church leaders were prevented from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at the site, calling the decision “a grave precedent and disregards the sensibilities of billions of people around the world who, during this week, look to Jerusalem.”

“This 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 Patriarchate said.

In response, Israel Police said the request for access had been reviewed in advance and denied due to safety concerns. “The Old City and the holy sites constitute a complex area that does not allow access for large emergency and rescue vehicles, which significantly challenges response capabilities and poses a real risk to human life in the event of a mass-casualty incident,” police said.

The Foreign Ministry said there was a substantial risk to life in the Old City due to the war, while the Prime Minister’s Office said there had been “no malicious intent whatsoever” and described the decision as based on concern for the patriarch’s safety.

Officials said police would meet with Pizzaballa after the event “to explore solutions that allow for as normal a routine as possible while ensuring public safety,” and that a plan was being developed to enable church leaders to worship at the site in the coming days.

Traditional Palm Sunday events, including the annual procession into Jerusalem, were canceled due to restrictions imposed by Home Front Command.

The incident prompted diplomatic inquiries, with Israeli Ambassador to Italy Jonathan Peled summoned by the Italian Foreign Ministry and additional requests for clarification submitted by foreign embassies.

The post Israel police block Latin patriarch from Holy Sepulchre over security concerns appeared first on World Israel News.

Acts 28 ends abruptly and that’s never sat right with me. With the inclusion of Acts 29, we are given a nice well-rounded finale to Luke’s biography and some interesting closure to Pontius Pilate as well. Join me as I continue my Lost Books of the Bible series on YouTube, reading from Acts 29, 3 Corinthians, and the Phoenix of Tertullian.

You can read along with these texts and more on our Sacred Scripture page. 

IN the summer of 2019, I was seated in the wine cellar of a walled Medieval town high above the Dordogne Valley of France, not far from Sarlat-la-Canéda, making phone calls, writing reports. I have given this story in other places and it appears as though you’re about to hear it again. Rob Skiba is a name you that you might be familiar with. Though he had made a name for himself as a Nephilim researcher, more recently Rob had taken a dive into the deep end of the pool via flat earth research. The recorded interviews I conducted between he and Rick Hummer, a fellow flat earth investigator and close friend of his, was published while still occupying that very wine cellar. Read all about it. Chicago Is Not a Mirage.

Word quickly spread. Within a few short weeks, dozens of flat earth researchers began accepting my invite for a private interview, if not a series of interviews. From a 17th-century tower built by King Louis XIV, and with a stunning view of the Alps, I sat down with Robbie Davidson, founder of the Flat Earth International Conferences, conducting multiple sessions. While staying in Dumfries, Scotland, David Weiss agreed to take part in the interviews, as did Bob Knodel of Globebusters. There were others. But when I asked the interviewees to discuss the moments that shaped their lives, among the many PSYOPs, false flag attacks, and hoaxes that were discussed, only these men committed commentary to the false 9/11 narrative.

The resulting recordings ballooned into The Unexpected Cosmology, a book which became a website and was even intended as an anthology. And of course, the following discourse was originally a chapter. It was Walt Disney who stated, “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.” Those sentiments remain applicable here as well. American Sensationalism: The 9/11 Interviews was always intended to be expanded upon with the inclusion of new researchers. So I’m sorry to say the project became stagnant during the Covid-19 psychodrama. I took a break to tackle other projects. We lost Rob Skiba. Rob offered hours of private conversation regarding his life but we never got around to the big one. 9/11. It was in the cards. Sadly, Bob Knodel died soon afterwards. Voices are being squeezed from an entire generation. Gnosis passes with them.

In the aftermath, the FE community became fractured. People began going their separate ways. Robbie Davidson, among a noted few others who were interviewed for the project, got up and left the movement altogether. It is not my intent to erase his or the contributions of others if only brief. They came, they went, their testimonies remain.

The original vision may have hit roadblocks but it is not forgotten. I expanded this paper a few years later to include testimony from author Pauly Hart, a dear friend of mine. I had wanted to continue that trend every year thereafter but you know how it goes. For the 25th anniversary of the attack I have redirected my efforts to its first large scale expansion, including Andrew Hoy and Darrin Geisinger into the mix. Perhaps others will lend their experiences to the recorder in time.

The following is their report.

Watch the Interviews