The Vatican has expressed its “regrets” to Israel’s ambassador over an attempt to stop the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from accessing the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday, AFP reports.

Vatican second-in-command Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and its top diplomat, Archbishop Paul R Gallagher, have met with ambassador Yaron Sideman and “regrets were expressed regarding this incident, concerning which clarifications were provided,” the Vatican has said.

Israel has said the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem would regain access to Christianity’s holiest site after the decision to block him from entering the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday triggered international condemnation.