For Christians, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the center of the faith’s defining story. Tradition holds that within its walls stand both Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified, and the tomb from which Christians believe he rose. That is why its prolonged closure during the current Middle East conflict is reverberating across the Christian world.
Authorities shut the church’s doors on February 28 because of escalating security concerns as the regional war intensified. Since then, access to the Old City’s major holy sites has been heavily restricted.
For the first time in living memory, liturgies have stopped inside the basilica for weeks. The sanctuary normally hosts a near-continuous rhythm of prayer led by the three communities that share custody of the church — the Greek Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, and Roman Catholic Churches.
On Monday afternoon local time, Israeli police reported sites in the Old City of Jerusalem were hit by fragments, including in the vicinity of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. According to The New York Times, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said a fragment landed just several hundred feet from the church and at least one person was injured.
Jesus' way of the cross
The closure comes at a particularly sensitive moment in the Christian calendar. Lent, the season of preparation for Easter, has traditionally drawn pilgrims to Jerusalem from around the world. Many walk the Via Dolorosa, the route commemorating Christ’s path to crucifixion, before gathering for prayer inside the Holy Sepulchre itself. Now those centuries-old practices have been abruptly interrupted.
Church leaders in the Holy Land say the situation is unprecedented in duration. Even during past wars and periods of tension, worship at the site continued in some form. Restrictions during the pandemic limited pilgrimages, but clergy were still able to celebrate liturgies inside the church. The uncertainty now raises concerns about the coming celebrations of Holy Week and Easter, the most important days in the Christian year.
Fragments from intercepted Iranian missiles have recently fallen in parts of Jerusalem during the escalating conflict, according to police and emergency services. Reports indicate that debris landed near the Old City, including in the vicinity of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
The incidents have intensified fears about safety around the historic sanctuary.
Christian leaders are working with Israeli authorities in hopes of securing permission to celebrate the Paschal liturgies inside the church, even if access remains limited. The basilica is often called the “Mother Church” of Christianity because of its direct connection to the events of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection.
Vatican wants the Holy City to have a special status
For example, at the United Nations in 2025, Archbishop Caccia (now the Pope's representative to the USA), said:
Jerusalem is a city of universal religious and cultural significance. It is sacred to Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike. Therefore, it requires a status that transcends political divisions and ensures the preservation of its unique identity. To this end, the Holy See reiterates its longstanding call for an internationally guaranteed special statute capable of ensuring the dignity and rights of all its inhabitants and the faithful of the three monotheistic religions, the equality before the law of their institutions and communities, safeguarding the City’s sacred character and exceptional religious and cultural heritage.
Furthermore, it must ensure the protection of the Holy Places, guarantee the unhindered right to access them, and to worship there. It must also preserve the “Status Quo,” where applicable. In Jerusalem no one should be subjected to harassment. Therefore, it is regrettable that Christians feel increasingly threatened in the Old City of Jerusalem.
