http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=58177 Irish Christian leaders barred from holy site in Jerusalem
Jerusalem, May. 2, 2008 (CWNews.com) - An ecumenical delegation of Irish Christian leaders was barred from visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem on May 1 because some of the clerics were wearing pectoral crosses.
Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh was leading the ecumenical group, which was making a 4-day visit to the Holy Land. When the group made an unscheduled visit to the Western Wall, a Jewish worshipper confronted them, objecting to their crosses. A security guard agreed that the group could not approach the wall-- the remaining section of the old Temple-- unless they agreed to remove their crosses. The clerics refused to do so.
Cardinal Brady later sought to downplay the incident, suggesting that further negotiation might have resolved the problem and allowed the Christian leaders to pray at the site. But a tight schedule made it difficult for the delegation to continue talks with security officials at the site. "We were under constraints of time," the cardinal told the Irish RTE television network; "and we decided to move on."
Cardinal Brady reported that the delegation had received an apology from a senior Israeli government official, social minister Isaac Herzog, and said the group considered the matter closed. The Israeli government had not been informed in advance about the clerics' plan to visit the Western Wall.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pectoral_cross
A pectoral cross or pectorale (from the Latin pectoralis, "of the chest") is a cross, usually large, suspended from the neck by a cord or chain. Most pectoral crosses are made of precious metals (platinum, gold or silver) and some contain precious or semi-precious gems. In many Christian denominations, it is a sign that the person wearing it is a member of the clergy and it may signify that the wearer is a member of the higher or senior clergy; however, in many Western churches there are an increasing number of laypeople who choose to wear a pectoral cross.
While many Christians, both clergy and laity, wear crosses, the pectoral cross is distinguished by both its size (up to six inches across) and that it is worn in the center of the chest below the heart (as opposed to just below the collarbones).
Throughout the centuries, many pectoral crosses have been made in the form of reliquaries which contain alleged fragments of the True Cross or relics of saints. Some such reliquary pectorals are hinged so that they open to reveal the relic, or the relic may be visible from the front through glass.