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Pope Francis firmly reiterated that the status quo regarding the holy sites in Jerusalem must be respected. He said this after praying the midday Angelus on September 1, 2024, a couple of weeks after an Israeli minister called into question the situation around the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. The Pontiff also renewed his appeals for a ceasefire in the Holy Land, for the release of Israeli hostages, and for improvements in the situation in Gaza, which has been hit by new cases of polio.
“May there be peace in the Holy Land, may there be peace in Jerusalem! May the Holy City be a place of encounter where Christians, Jews, and Muslims feel they are respected and welcomed, and no one questions the status quo in the respective Holy Places,” the Pope said from the window of the apostolic palace to a crowd of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
The tensions around holy sites
Pope Francis’ comments came after recent statements and action by the Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, defying the status quo, which is an agreement about how different religious communities can access and worship at shared religious sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
One of these sites is the very important Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.
This site is where two important Jewish temples were located, including the one believed to be where Jesus was lost at the age of 12 or where the episode of the cleansing of the temple took place. The compound also includes the Dome of the Rock, a shrine which is where Muslims believe the prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven and that was built in the late 7th century AD.
The long-standing status quo agreed upon amongst the different communities stipulates that non-Muslims who visit this site not pray there. The "status quo" implies an agreement among all the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Islam, Christianity) so as to try and maintain peaceful access by all three.
On August 13, as reported by several media outlets, Ben Gvir visited the compound with several hundred Israelis and encouraged prayer, openly defying the long-standing status quo.
According to the BBC, Ben Gvir said in a video that “our policy is to enable Jewish prayer,” while the Israeli prime minister’s office emphasized that there has been no change to the status quo.
According to Al-Jazeera, Ben Gvir then said in an interview with Army Radio on August 26 that he would build a synagogue on the site if he could. He had already caused controversy in January 2023 by visiting the compound.
The need for a ceasefire
His actions and comments were condemned by Palestinian leaders and Israeli politicians alike, and other international actors such as Jordan, the United Nations, and more. The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, said in a statement published the same day that the US “strongly opposed” Ben Gvir’s August 13 visit and that these “provocative actions” worsened tensions and took away focus from reaching a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
Similarly, Pope Francis at the Angelus appealed “for the negotiations to continue and for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, and relief to the people of Gaza, where many diseases are also spreading, such as poliomyelitis.”
Polio
On Sunday, September 1, the parties involved in the conflict agreed to “humanitarian pauses” in fighting in order for children to receive vaccinations against polio.
The World Health Organization had expressed its concern after a 10-month-old child contracted polio for the first time in 25 years in Palestine. Polio is an infectious viral disease that usually affects children and in extreme cases can cause paralysis and death.
Pope Francis and the Holy See have continuously reiterated that a two-state solution is the best path for peace in the Holy Land.
