"We encountered some difficulty in gaining access. There was a difficulty about us wearing our crosses," he said. "We were under constraints of time ... And we decided to move on."Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi of the Western Wall, said that while the site is open to all faiths, worshippers are expected not to offend the sensitivities
"They were asked to remove the crosses, but they refused," he told The Associated Press. "I think it is important that they visit the Western Wall, but they should have covered up the crosses to respect the place, just like Jews wouldn't wear their ritual prayer shawls when entering a Christian holy place."
The prelates are on a four-day visit to Israel and the West Bank to promote peace and show solidarity with Christians in the Holy Land, a statement from Ireland's Catholic Communications Office said.
The Western Wall, in Jerusalem's walled Old City, is a remnant of the Second Temple compound built by King Herod in the 6th century B.C. And destroyed by Roman conquerors in A.D. 70.
Israelis on Thursday were observing an annual day of remembrance and mourning for the 6 million Jews killed in the Nazi Holocaust of World War II.
On a historic visit in 2000, Pope John Paul II prayed at the Western Wall, and pictures clearly show the pontiff wearing a large gold cross while praying there. He was accompanied by Michael Melchior, an orthodox rabbi who was an Israeli Cabinet minister at the time.
However, 13 visiting Austrian bishops who tried to pray at the wall last December while wearing crosses were made to stand behind a fence several yards from the ancient site.
Cardinal Brady told RTE he and his colleagues later met Israeli Cabinet minister Isaac Herzog, whose grandfather was Ireland's first chief rabbi.
"Minister Herzog gave us an apology, which we accept," Brady said. "We think the matter should rest there."
Associated Press writers Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
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