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Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Christian Orthodox pilgrims hold up candles during the Holy Fire ceremony, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
August 26, 2026, 1:43 pm
Spending the night behind the locked doors of the Holy Sepulchre
With daytime crowds gone, pilgrims and clergy pray through the night at the traditional sites of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial and resurrection
By GIOVANNA DELL'ORTO
Christian worshipers visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to mark Orthodox Easter and to attend the first public Sunday services by other Christian denominations after the war on April 12, 2026. (Rossella Tercatin/Times of Israel)
April 12, 2026, 10:30 pm
‘Feels like a blessing’: On Orthodox Easter, Christians flock back to the Holy Sepulchre
During the ceasefire with Iran, the iconic church that enshrines what many consider Jesus’s tomb opens to the public and Christians from across denominations return with cautious joy
By Rossella Tercatin
Orthodox Christian pilgrims hold up candles during the Holy Fire ceremony at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in the Old City of Jerusalem, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
April 11, 2026, 9:52 pm
Orthodox Christian pilgrims flock to Jerusalem for Holy Fire ceremony
Annual procession marked by heightened police presence, aggressive detention of several Palestinian Christians, and limited attendance amid fragile ceasefire with Iran
By ToI Staff and AP
Muslim worshipers pray outside the Dome of the Rock at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount during Friday noon prayers, following 40 days of closure by the Israeli authorities amid the Iran war, in Jerusalem's Old City on April 10, 2026. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
April 10, 2026, 9:30 pm
Over 100,000 Muslim worshipers at Al-Aqsa in first Friday prayers after Jerusalem holy sites reopen
The mosque on the Temple Mount had been largely closed to the public, along with other Muslim, Christian and Jewish holy sites, due to safety restrictions amid Iran missile fire
By AFP and ToI Staff
Muslim worshipers gather on the Temple Mount for the dawn prayer in Jerusalem on April 9, 2026. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
April 9, 2026, 4:50 pm
Holy sites reopen in Jerusalem’s Old City after over a month of closure
Muslim worshipers throng Al-Aqsa gates for dawn prayers; extended ‘Ramadan hours’ remain in place for Jewish visitors to Temple Mount; police gear up for Holy Fire ceremony; Western Wall reopens
By Charlie Summers
Jewish worshippers take part in the traditional Priestly Blessing during the Passover holiday in an indoor section along the Western Wall in Jerusalem, after prayers were limited to 50 participants due to the ongoing war, April 5, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
April 5, 2026, 2:43 pm
Limited Passover and Easter ceremonies held at Jerusalem holy sites amid war restrictions
Old City largely desolate as just a handful of clergy allowed to perform Passover priestly blessing at the Western Wall and Easter Sunday services at Church of Holy Sepulchre
By Rossella Tercatin, ToI Staff and Agencies
Catholic clergymen attend a Good Friday procession along the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem's Old City, April 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
April 3, 2026, 10:11 pm
Christians mark subdued Good Friday in Jerusalem, wider region amid Iran war
From Jerusalem to Dubai, wartime fears halt pilgrimages and force churches to cancel or livestream services during one of Christianity’s holiest days
By ToI Staff and Agencies
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, holds a prayer service to mark Holy Thursday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, April 2, 2026. (Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)
April 2, 2026, 7:29 pm
Latin Patriarch holds limited prayers at Holy Sepulchre after Palm Sunday uproar
Jerusalem church akin to ‘womb of peace’ in a world ‘being torn apart,’ Cardinal Pizzaballa tells clergymen and staff permitted to attend Holy Thursday rites amid Iran war
By Agencies and ToI Staff
A woman prays in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City, April 5, 2020. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalia)
March 31, 2026, 3:46 pm
Daily Briefing Mar. 31 – Israel angers Christian world in another avoidable scandal
Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman attempts to untangle the strategy for the Iran war and lays out Israel’s enduring trauma over the previous buffer zone in Lebanon
By Amanda Borschel-Dan and Lazar Berman
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, sits in the Church of All Nations on the day of a prayer service to mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (Ammar Awad/Pool Photo via AP)
March 30, 2026, 3:48 pm
Holy Sepulchre Easter services to go ahead as Church leaders reach deal with police
After meeting with authorities, church officials say arrangements made for Holy Week ceremonies to take place with live broadcast, amid Iran missile danger
By Lazar Berman
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, greeting Christians gathered at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem for a mass honoring Pope Francis on April 23, 2025. (Rossella Tercatin/Times of Israel)
March 30, 2026, 6:11 am
Police, Catholic patriarchate reach agreement on prayer at Holy Sepulchre after cardinal blocked
Netanyahu orders ‘full and immediate access’ for Pierbattista Pizzaballa after he and another Catholic leader were barred entry to church amid wartime restrictions
By Lazar Berman
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, holds a prayer service to mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem, March 29, 2026. (Ammar Awad/Pool Photo via AP)
March 29, 2026, 5:06 pm
Police stop top Catholic figures from reaching Holy Sepulchre for Palm Sunday Mass
PM’s office promises solution after police bar Latin patriarch due to war, eliciting outrage; ‘There was no malicious intent, only concern for safety,’ says Netanyahu
By Lazar Berman
A man sits beside a locked door of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and shuttered shops in Jerusalem’s Old City, which remains off limits to visitors amid the war with Iran, on March 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
March 29, 2026, 3:02 pm
Under shadow of war with Iran, Jerusalem heads into subdued Passover and Easter
Celebrations canceled and shops shuttered after missile fragments fell in Old City; Home Front Command limits religious gatherings to 50 people
By Melanie Lidman
The Rockefeller Museum. (Shmuel Bar-Am)
December 13, 2025, 9:34 am
Jerusalem’s ‘cursed’ antiquity museum reopens its doors amid rumors it may become a hotel
The Rockefeller Archaeological Museum stores some 60,000 artifacts spanning millennia, including unique decorations from the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
By Rossella Tercatin
A man visits the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City of Jerusalem, Wednesday, June 11, 2025. (AP/Mahmoud Illean)
August 26, 2025, 11:14 am
Alleged Western Wall vandal accused of painting ‘holocaust in Gaza’ on Holy Sepulchre
Police reportedly find graffiti on Old City church weeks after same man, apparently mentally ill, was released to psychiatric care after allegedly daubing identical slogans on Jewish sites
By ToI Staff
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