ROME – Roughly twenty-four hours after Pope Francis publicly charged that Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Rite Patriarch of Jerusalem, had been denied entry into the Gaza Strip, Pizzaballa made a regularly scheduled Christmas visit to the lone Catholic parish in Gaza, saying Mass and celebrating a handful of confirmations and first communions.
Pope Francis’s comments came in impromptu remarks at the beginning of his traditional end-of-the-year address to members of the Roman Curia.
“Yesterday,” the pope said, “the patriarch was not allowed to enter Gaza as they had promised,” referring to Israeli authorities.
