The brave parish priest of Gaza continues to lead his tiny flock in faith and hope amid the suffering, writes Michael Kelly
When the war in Gaza started following the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7, 2023, the tiny Christian community had a stark choice to make. Do they remain in their homes isolated from one another, or do they try to come and be together.
The answer was swift, and soon around 850 Christians – men, women and children – gathered together everything they could carry and moved into the Holy Family Church, the only Catholic Church in Gaza.
For their parish priest, it was an anxious time because he was stranded in Jerusalem and unable to return to Gaza for some weeks due to restrictions imposed by the Israeli military.
At the papal charity Aid to the Church in Need – which has been supporting struggling Christian communities since 1947 – our response was swift. We have a particular mission to support Christians wherever the community is in danger of dying out. Life has never been easy for the Christians of Gaza, yet they have lived lives of quiet hope alongside their Muslim friends and neighbours in the Gaza Strip.
This war poses an existential threat to them – hundreds of Christians with dual nationalities were able to leave, but for the around 450 Palestinians or so who remain Holy Family Church has been their makeshift home for 700 days.
Support
Thanks to the generosity of so many Irish benefactors, people just like you dear reader, ACN Ireland has been able to literally keep the lights on in Holy Family Parish.
We have been able to provide fuel for the generator, which has helped maintain reliable electricity, providing two-hour power cycles for lighting, medical equipment, and electrical devices. The power has also enabled consistent mobile phone charging, preserving communication channels for the displaced community who are concerned about relatives and friends cut off in other parts of the Gaza Strip.
The support provided through this funding has been crucial in maintaining dignity and basic living standards for the displaced community”
Thanks to ACN Ireland, the generator has also powered water pumps to transfer well water to rooftop storage tanks, supported essential hygiene and sanitation needs, including shower facilities, toilet operations, laundry services and general cleaning and maintenance.
The support from ACN Ireland benefactors has proven essential in maintaining basic living conditions for displaced individuals during an acute humanitarian crisis.
The support provided through this funding has been crucial in maintaining dignity and basic living standards for the displaced community, enabling the continuation of essential services and supporting emergency response capabilities.
Crucially, ACN Ireland has been able to support the Church in the Holy Land to provide vital humanitarian aid that has allowed the community at Holy Family to provide meals for up to 3,000 people every day in Gaza City.
With food insecurity rapidly spreading, this is now under serious threat. As Israel is reportedly preparing for a fresh assault on Gaza City, the people sheltering in Holy Family are scared.
The parish priest of the beleaguered Christian community, Fr Romanelli, has appealed for urgent prayers for peace, and confirmed that the parishioners of Holy Family – Gaza’s only Catholic parish – face an uncertain future with fears of a evacuation orders from the Israeli military.
At the time of writing, the people of Holy Family have not yet been ordered to leave – but the Israeli military say this is inevitable. Many of the people are too ill and fragile to go, are fear they face certain death in the south so they will stay put whatever happens. Fr Romaneilli, the other priests and religious sisters have vowed to stay with the people to minister to them in their greatest need.
Prayer
According to Fr Romanelli, “the area is dangerous. Bombings can be heard night and day. Some far away, others closer. At times, even shrapnel arrives [in the church compound]”.
“Unfortunately, the war continues. And, with the war, every day more dead, wounded, and destruction are added…and the needs of every kind for the entire civilian population of Gaza grow,” he warned.
Underlining the Christian hope that has sustained the community since the war began, Fr Romanelli said: “We are well, thanks be to God. We continue to pray for peace.”
A tank round struck the church on July 17, killing three people and injuring several others, including Fr Romanelli, whose leg was wounded.
Prayer serves to open hearts in a context of hatred and rejection of the other, as has occurred with war and the absence of peace”
In the wake of that incident, Pope Leo XIV prayed for the victims by name, calling for an end to the “barbarism of war” and expressing his hopes for a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, has expressed gratitude to Catholics around the world for their material support, as well as their prayers that hearts may change.
Prayer, however, the cardinal warned, should not be relied upon as if it were “a magic formula that solves problems.”
Prayer serves to change hearts, he said, adding that approaching prayer in such a way would end up creating “only frustration.”
Rather, he explained, prayer serves to open hearts in a context of hatred and rejection of the other, as has occurred with war and the absence of peace.
“Instead, the heart must always remain open to trust, to the desire to do good, to build good,” said Patriarch Pizzaballa. “And this is the strength of prayer, especially in the Holy Land, where recognising the other is almost impossible at this moment.”
Referring to Holy Family Parish, the cardinal said “the information we are receiving from the territory is confused. There has been no direct order of evacuation, but the fighting is drawing ever closer to our area, the areas adjacent to ours have been evacuated, so here we are, waiting to understand what to do.”
On December 16, 2023, two Palestinian Christians, Nahida Khalil Anton and her daughter Samar Kamal Anton, were shot and killed by Israeli snipers while they were walking inside the grounds of the Holy Family Church.
At Aid to the Church in Need Ireland, we have promised the people of Holy Family and Gaza that we will stand by them – and that when this terrible war is over, we will help them rebuild with faith, hope and love. Will you help us?
