Despite the escalating situation in Gaza, Catholic priest Father Gabriel Romanelli and a couple of other devoted clergy have chosen to stay with their flock and to minister to the sick and wounded.
There is only one Catholic church in Gaza, Holy Family Church. For the duration of the current conflict it has served as a refuge.
The late Pope Francis was particularly concerned with the fate of the church and was reportedly in almost every day contact with Father Romanelli and Holy Family Church in the course of the last months of his life.
Sadly, the church has not been spared the results of the conflict. In December 2023 two parishioners were shot and killed, allegedly by IDF snipers. In July of this 12 months the church was hit by an IDF shell, killing three, including the church janitor, and injuring Father Romanelli and nine others.
Earlier this week the United Nations said it believed Israeli actions in Gaza amounted to genocide. Israel has been heavily criticised not just for its military actions, but additionally for “weaponizing” aid.
George Akroush development director for Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarchate, talking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), said of the situation, “The civilian population continues to suffer from bombings, displacement, and an acute shortage of food, medicine and electricity.
“In recent days, the Israeli army has begun demolishing homes just a couple of hundred metres from the Catholic compound, apparently in preparation for an upcoming ground operation, for the reason that streets in Gaza City are too narrow for tanks or large military vehicles.
“These nearby demolitions keep families in constant fear and worry.”
Father Romanelli refused to comply with an Israeli evacuation order, with church representatives saying that such an order amounted to a “death sentence” for individuals who were already weak from the deprivations of the conflict.
Father Romanelli said, “Faced with the fact of the elderly, the sick, the exhausted, the depressed and the kids, it seems to us that the Lord is asking us to remain and proceed to serve those that suffer. This is a simply human and spiritual statement.”
The priest is being aided by two other priests and two religious sisters of the Institute of the Incarnate Word and three Missionaries of Charity. Together they take care of around 450 refugees, mostly Catholic and Orthodox, but additionally some Muslims and folks with disabilities who’re too vulnerable to maneuver.
Akroush praised their decision to remain, despite the danger, “Remaining on the compound is indeed a clever decision by our people, since nowhere in Gaza can truly be considered secure.
“Those who left are enduring among the worst situations of their lives – tents are erected in the course of the streets, hygiene conditions are extremely poor, and there may be a severe shortage of the whole lot.
“Above all, death is all over the place, and the actual fact is that there isn’t any such thing as a secure place in Gaza.”
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