(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 21 - Pope Francis on Saturday said the
Catholic bishop of Jerusalem, known as patriarch, had tried to
cross into the Gaza Strip a day earlier but was denied entry,
speaking during his Christmas address to the Catholic cardinals
who head the Vatican's departments.
"Yesterday they didn't let the patriarch enter Gaza", the
pontiff said, in a clear reference to Cardinal Pizzaballa, and
"yesterday children were bombed".
"This is cruelty, this is not a war", "I want to say this
because it touches the heart", the pontiff said in his annual
address, in an apparent reference to deadly Israeli strikes on
Friday. (ANSA).