ISTANBUL

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Sunday said Israel's move to prevent Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa from entering a church in Jerusalem was an “offense” to religious freedom.

"Preventing the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Custodian of the Holy Land from entering, especially on a solemnity as central to the faith as Palm Sunday, constitutes an offense not only to believers, but to every community that recognizes religious freedom," Meloni said in a statement issued by the government.

The Italian government expressed its "closeness" to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pizzaballa, who was denied entry to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, preventing him from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass.

"The Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is a sacred place of Christianity, and as such it must be preserved and protected for the celebration of sacred rites," Meloni's statement added.