Regional instability stemming from the Iran war, and the threat of Iranian missile and drone strikes, disrupted Christian observance of Holy Week across the Middle East, with churches in Iraq, Israel, and the UAE canceling or scaling back Palm Sunday and Easter celebrations.
The decisions were driven primarily by security concerns, as Iranian projectiles had struck or threatened areas near major Christian population centers, including Erbil and Dubai’s Jebel Ali district.
In Iraq, the Syriac Catholic Archdiocese of Mosul called on the faithful to live the holy days in a spirit of faith, prayer, and fraternal solidarity, avoiding large gatherings and refraining from outward displays of festivity as an expression of solidarity with those suffering from the war and in order to preserve everyone’s safety.
The archdiocese limited holiday celebrations to church interiors and canceled the large annual Palm Sunday procession through the city’s streets, as well as the customary exchange of holiday greetings throughout the archdiocese.
The Chaldean Archdiocese of Erbil canceled its annual Palm Sunday procession, which it had traditionally organized in cooperation with the apostolic churches in Ankawa. Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda told ACI MENA that security requirements drove the cancellation, which the faithful await each year with joy and eagerness, in order to guard everyone’s safety.
The archdiocese limited its activities to regular Masses, evening prayer, and the Way of the Cross, while canceling catechism classes for all age groups and youth meetings since the beginning of the war and the targeting of Erbil by Iranian missiles and drones.
The archdiocese also announced the postponement of the 2026 Ankawa Youth Gathering, which had been scheduled for March 18–21. Other dioceses and parishes across Christian towns and villages appeared to be moving in the same direction, canceling processions and confining celebrations to church buildings, though without formal announcements.
Qaraqosh, Ankawa, Al-Qosh, and other Christian towns and villages in Iraq have long organized large Palm Sunday processions. This tradition has only previously been interrupted under exceptional circumstances, including the years of forced displacement during the ISIS occupation of 2014–2017.
In Jerusalem, Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Fr. Francesco Ielpo, the Custos of the Holy Land, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Palm Sunday, March 29. The Latin Patriarchate stated it was the first time in centuries that the Heads of the Church had been prevented from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at the site. Police cited wartime safety restrictions, noting that Jerusalem’s Old City lacks bomb shelters adequate for large gatherings and that Iranian missiles had struck near the church.
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