The White House said on Monday that the US had expressed concerns to Israel over its move to prevent the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from celebrating Palm Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Israel was working to reopen holy sites during processions leading up to Easter.
“We did express our concerns to Israel with respect to these holy sites being shut down,” Ms Leavitt told reporters.
“We want worshippers to be able to access these holy sites. Of course, safety is a top priority, but we understand Israel is working on security measures to reopen the sites throughout Holy Week.”
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, one of the Church’s most senior clerics, was blocked from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Sunday, despite having co-ordinated his visit.
The move by Israeli authorities marked an unprecedented moment in the centuries-long history of the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land and sparked international outcry, including from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Israeli police said the restriction was a safety measure amid the continuing war in Iran, in which missiles and debris have fallen near Jerusalem’s Old City.
Palm Sunday Mass was not celebrated at the ancient church for the first time in centuries.
By Monday, Israel appeared to reverse course. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had intervened.
“I instructed the authorities to enable the Patriarch to hold services as he wishes,” Mr Netanyahu wrote on X.
The incident comes amid growing scrutiny over the treatment of Christian communities in the occupied Palestinian territories and Lebanon.
In recent months, former allies of President Donald Trump, including Tucker Carlson and former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, have spoken out about the plight of minority Christian groups in the region.
Mr Tucker and Ms Greene have large social media followings and share supporters with Mr Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.
US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, a staunch supporter of Israel, called the move “an unfortunate overreach already having major repercussions around the world".
On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, invoked a biblical passage to criticise war.
“Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” he told those gathered in St Peter’s Square, adding that God “does not listen to the prayers” of those who start wars.
Trump administration officials have repeatedly invoked God while talking about the war, and Ms Leavitt opened Monday’s news briefing by telling reporters they may have heard a large “amen” because she and her team had just said a loud prayer.
“We’ve seen presidents, we’ve seen leaders at the Department of War, and we’ve seen our troops go to prayer during the most turbulent times in our nation’s history,” she said.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with our military leaders or the president calling on the American people to pray for our service members. I think it’s a very noble thing to do.”
Ms Leavitt added that Mr Trump and his wife Melania are “joining in prayer with Christians celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ".
