4,000 process in Jerusalem for Palm Sunday amid Israeli bombardment of Gaza

For the second year in a row, few foreign pilgrims were in attendance at the traditional Palm Sunday procession from the Mount of Olives into the Old City of Jerusalem due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. But even the gray skies that threatened rain didn't dampen the spirit of the 4,000 participants.

Most of them were Christians from Jerusalem and the Galilee, as well as a few Christians from the West Bank, foreign diplomats and NGO employees, members of religious orders and foreign workers. Ethiopian Orthodox pilgrims, with their traditionally embroidered-trimmed white gowns, also took part in the procession, as in 2025 the festivals of all the Orthodox and Catholic churches converge.

Some 6,000 initial travel permits were issued for West Bank Christians to attend Holy Week celebrations, with an additional 2,000 expected later in the week but not yet confirmed, according to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

Sheltering from the rain under a doorway, Batrice Batrice, a Catholic from Nazareth, said he had brought his three teenage children, his wife and his aunt to take part in the procession this year, knowing that it would not be as joyous as other years, because he thought it was important to maintain hope and a positive attitude.

"It was happier when there were many pilgrims here. Ten years ago these roads were full of people," he said. "We always have to keep hope alive and believe that the situation will be better. There is always someone up there watching out for us."

Amid bursts of rain, the pilgrims were led by the Christian scouts troop, who again this year did not play their marching band instruments but sang hymns and clapped their hands. The pilgrims waving palm fronds wound their way down from Bethphage — a Franciscan church located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem — down to the Monastery of the Ascension and downhill to Gethsemane garden, concluding at the Church of St. Anne by the Lion's Gate in the Old City.

Members of various Neocatechumenal Way communities played guitar and sang as they marched in the procession adding a bit of festivity to the event, a group of Franciscan friars played music and sang, and members of the Filipino Catholic community sang songs.

"We are still rejoicing," said Violeta Pasco, a Filipino caretaker who works in Tel Aviv and came to Jerusalem with her husband and 15-year-old daughter. "Even when it is difficult we need to rejoice. No one will stop us from rejoicing. It is our faith."

The day began with the palm procession and Pontifical Mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa blessed the palm fronds, and a procession walked around the edicule during the Pontifical Mass. The Holy Edicule is raised over the place of Christ’s tomb. Greek Orthodox and Copt faithful also filled the church as they celebrated Palm Sunday.

In his Palm Sunday procession message, Pizzaballa urged the faithful to remember "what matters most" despite the continuing difficulties: "We are here today, local Christians and pilgrims, all together, to say strongly that we are not afraid. We are the children of light and resurrection, of life. We hope and believe in the love that overcomes everything."

"We have encountered Him. And we are here to cry it out, strongly, confidently, and with all the love we can, which no one can ever extinguish. No one will separate us from our love for Jesus. And we want to witness it first of all with unity among ourselves, loving and supporting one another, forgiving one another," he said. "As I keep repeating, we belong to this city and no one can separate us from our love for the Holy City, just as no one can separate us from the love of Christ."