Father Gabriel Romanelli, 54 years old, Argentinian, has been the parish priest of the only Catholic church in Gaza for 4 years: under his care there are 135 souls out of the thousand Christians in the Strip. A minority in the minority of the 2.3 million total inhabitants. The Israeli bombings surprised him in Bethlehem: he was supposed to return to Gaza on Sunday 8 October. A world ago. He has asked the Israeli authorities several times to let him return, but the entire territory is currently sealed: he is in constant contact with Gaza, as he tells us within the walls of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
What is the situation of the community?
«It’s dramatic. Everyone I talk to tells me that no place is safe today in Gaza and that for this reason many people don’t even want to leave their homes: the bombings are continuous, and many people have died while leaving following eviction orders issued by Israel. So they think it is better to die at home than go to the South: also because there is nothing in the South. Not a blanket, not a sack of flour, not a tent. And then they stay. Many came to us: thinking that the church was a safe place. But after the bombing of San Porfirio there are no longer certainties.”
How many people do you host?
«The Catholic church has five structures: in all of them there are refugees. Our parishioners, the 54 disabled children assisted by Mother Teresa’s nuns, some elderly and sick people, some of the poor we have assisted for years, then there are many people who also come from other churches: before the bombing of the Orthodox church in the parish there were there were 500, now we are at 700. In the evening they sleep on the floor of the Church because they are afraid to stay in the structures closest to the road. The fear is that a building or the road will be hit and everything will collapse, like in San Porfirio. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem alerted the Israeli authorities to where our facilities are, that there are civilian refugees inside and that many of them cannot move: the response was that we are not a target. But neither was Saint Porphyry. People feel more protected because we are there, but everyone knows that the danger is real here too.”
Did you know the victims of San Porfirio?
“Certain. I have been in Gaza since 2005, first as vicar and then as parish priest: the Christian community is a small, very intertwined community. We hang out in the same groups, we get married between people of different rites. I knew all the people who died, I had seen many of them grow up, I had seen the children being born. They were good people.”
What is needed in Gaza today?
“Electricity. Waterfall. Medicine: in hospitals operations are carried out without anesthesia, there are 18 thousand injured. The generators, the solar panels, everything that had been put in place to make up for the chronic lack of energy no longer works. Including pumps to get the water you need at least for washing. There’s no use in refrigerators: we only eat dry food, as long as we have it.”
The Pope called her.
«The Pope calls almost every day: me or if he manages to get through, he also calls Abuna Yusuf, my vicar. Abuna Yusuf told me that sometimes they put the speakerphone in the parish and make his words listen to everyone who is there. He asks to protect the children, because he knows that they are disabled and need help more than others. Feeling him close is important.”
What do you want to tell the world from your parishioners in Gaza?
«I ask those who have faith to pray, because the Lord listens. And to all those who have the word, I ask to ask for peace, a stop to the bombings. I know this is a controversial position and that many don’t want to hear it. But more bombs mean more deaths and more injuries. And it means that evil will continue to grow. I also want to say that the humanitarian corridors are urgent: this is a territory that has been under blockade for fifteen years. Before the war hundreds of trucks arrived a day, now around twenty. It’s a drop in the desert. My message is that of the Pope: peace. Peace be upon all, upon Israel, upon the Palestinians, upon the people who were taken to Gaza against their will.”
2023-10-28 05:48:44
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