Vatican envoy said summoned by Jerusalem over pontifical criticism

Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Vatican’s top diplomatic officer for talks on recent remarks by Pope Francis accusing Israel of “cruelty” in Gaza, the Ynet news site reports.

The summons for Nuncio Adolpho Tito Yllana, the Holy See’s ambassador to Israel, occurred on Tuesday. The report says the summons was not for a rebuke but to express Israel’s disappointment with the pope’s comments.

There is no immediate confirmation of the report.

The Foreign Ministry has already publicly spoken out against Francis’s comments decrying Israeli bombings in Gaza as “cruelty,” accusing the pontiff of a double standard and ignoring the cruelty of Hamas.

Delivering an annual Christmas address earlier Wednesday, Francis spoke out against war, “particularly in Gaza where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave,” but did not repeat his “cruelty” claim.