October 7, 2024, marks the first anniversary of the Hamas terrorist offensive against Israel and the escalation of violence and horror in Gaza in recent months. While all eyes have recently turned to Lebanon, where Israeli strikes are intensifying, the situation in the Palestinian enclave “is as dramatic as ever,” Fr. Romanelli, parish priest of Gaza’s Catholic parish, tells Aleteia.
Cardinal Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, called on all Christians to fast and pray on October 7, 2024. Pope Francis joined the call.
“….for the past year, the Holy Land, and not only it, has been plunged into a whirlwind of violence and hatred never before seen or experienced,” Cardinal Pizzaballa lamented on Thursday, September 26.
On the ground, the Christian community is patiently facing up to the war.
“We try to maintain spiritual discipline. That’s what saves us,” Argentinian priest Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, pastor of the Catholic parish in Gaza, tells Aleteia.
Here is our interview with him:
The current situation in Gaza
How would you describe the current situation in Gaza?
Fr. Romanelli: After a year of war, the situation continues to be dramatic throughout the Gaza Strip. The vast majority of Gazans are displaced. At present, 400,000 people live in Gaza City, while the rest of the population is located in the south.
The bombardments have continued since the start of the war, and there is no truce. We hear and experience the strikes every day. There are deaths every day, and of course many wounded (about 100,000 since the start of the war).
I’d say the hardest thing at this stage is not knowing when it’s all going to end. There seems to be no ceasefire or truce being negotiated.
How is the Gazan Christian community coping with these dramatic events?
Fr. Romanelli: Gaza’s Christians have not escaped fear and danger, as bombardments are taking place everywhere. Some neighborhoods are deserted because the strikes are daily and close together. For example, the neighborhood where the Rosary School is located is bombed 24 hours a day. Generally speaking, people only move around there to go to the Orthodox church, which is 400 meters [438 yards] from the Catholic parish of the Holy Family.
Spiritual discipline
Fr. Romanelli: Two days ago, a building was completely destroyed 100 meters [109 yards] from us and five people were killed. But we try, as much as possible, to maintain a kind of spiritual discipline, keeping up the rhythm of parish life. We rely above all on adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
What gives us the most strength is having the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist with us. In the mornings, we start the day with an hour of Eucharistic adoration, followed by Lauds in Arabic, the Rosary in the afternoon, and we finish with Mass.
School for the children
Fr. Romanelli: For the children of the parish, we have tried to set up an oratory and guarantee them a semblance of school activity. There are 180 of them, both Catholic and Orthodox, and they’re back at school, albeit under special conditions … The school buildings have been enlisted to allow families to sleep there. My own office, too!
The sisters of the Incarnate Word community teach them in their little convent, and have transformed the dining room, kitchen, and living areas into classrooms. In the gardens, we have created simple wooden roofed areas. Here they take classes in Christian religion, Arabic, English, mathematics, and science.
We also contacted the Palestinian Ministry of Education, and the Ramallah authority gave us the opportunity to prepare the children for exams so that they could graduate.
From a practical point of view, the Christians are like everyone else: they lack everything, especially drinking water and healthcare. Thanks to the aid set up by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, we still manage to bring in food that we distribute around the parish, but the needs are enormous. Some small dispensaries have been set up with the help of Caritas Jerusalem in the parish, in conjunction with one of the only hospitals still active, the Anglican Hospital.
Will Christians remain in Gaza?
Do you think that the Christian presence in Gaza is in danger of disappearing?
Fr. Romanelli: I think the Christians will hold on, even if life is hard for everyone here. Even before the war, Gaza was a difficult place to live. Some have chosen to leave, and I understand their decision, even if the Holy Land needs this Christian presence in Gaza.
At the start of the war, there were 1,017 Christians, all denominations put together. The Catholic community is the smallest, since there are just 135 of us, including the nuns.
Since October 7, we’ve lost 30% of the Christian community. Three hundred left thanks to their visa and were able to flee to Egypt at the start of the conflict, and 43 have died, either from lack of medical care or killed by the Israeli army (20 Orthodox Christians died in the bombardment of the church of St. Porphyrios, and two Catholics were shot dead in the Catholic parish, editor’s note).
I’m convinced that despite these ordeals, the Christian community has a vocation to continue bearing witness here in Gaza.
What can Western Christians learn from their brothers in Gaza, and more generally from Eastern Christians?
Fr. Romanelli: Eastern Christians have so much to teach the rest of the world. I’m a foreigner myself, and if there’s one thing I learn from them every day, it’s that they’re convinced of their faith. They firmly believe.
Faith is not a feeling, it’s a certainty, and I think that Christians in the East, who are living through complicated situations, prove to us that anything is possible with God’s grace. They are ready to live their faith without hiding, without shame, whatever the cost. We need to rediscover this certainty of faith, and above all the joy of Jesus’ Real Presence in the Eucharist. It is he who gives us the strength to live our faith with simplicity, even in the most difficult of times.
And today we celebrate...