(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.
    In particular, the pontiff accused Israeli authorities of denying entry to the patriarch "as they had promised".
    Pope Francis is constantly briefed on the situation in Gaza, including through a daily afternoon phone call he is paid by members of the Holy Family Church, the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip. (ANSA).