A Holy Week of 'serenity and despair' for Gaza's Christians

After the new raid on the Anglican hospital, the parish priest talks about the celebrations in a church perceived as a ‘safe place, even if no place is’ in the Strip. The pain of the death of a child due to the bombings. ‘There is no sign of détente’. The request for prayers and gratitude for the closeness of Pope Francis who ‘continues to call us’.

Milan (AsiaNew) - Christians in the Strip are experiencing Holy Week ‘serene in the Lord but at the same time, it may seem a contradiction but it is not, with a lot of anguish because there is no sign of any easing of the situation’. This is what Fr Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest of the Latin Church of the Holy Family in Gaza, told AsiaNews when we spoke to him on the phone at the end of the Palm Sunday services.

The atmosphere in these days of preparation for Easter is very different from that of the recent Christmas holidays, when the possibility of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was a source of hope. Now it's time for war, for incessant bombardments that even yesterday hit civilian structures, in particular the Ahli Arab Hospital, the last fully functioning one: ‘All the families here have children, and those who don't have children have sick elderly people, which is why - adds the Argentine priest of the Incarnate Word - there is a feeling of enormous prostration’.

During the night between the 12th and 13th of April Israel struck and partially destroyed the al-Ahli hospital, hitting the intensive care and surgery wards. Footage shows patients trying to escape, while the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) claim to have targeted a ‘command and control centre used by Hamas’.

The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, spoke about the raid on the Anglican-run facility, emphasising that ‘the fact that the only Christian hospital in Gaza was attacked on Palm Sunday is particularly frightening’.

The centre had already been the scene of a powerful explosion in October 2023, in the early stages of the conflict, which killed hundreds of people. Meanwhile, Hamas says it is willing to free more hostages as part of a potential agreement; the plan, mediated by Egypt, would include Cairo's supervision of the demilitarisation of the group that controls the Strip, while the United States has reportedly promised Israel's commitment to participate in talks to end the war.

‘The situation in Gaza is very serious: [the Israeli fighter planes] hit the Anglican hospital, which has already been subject to attack in the past, but this time they gave warning to evacuate,’ said Father Romanelli. However, he continued, “a child who was hospitalised in the facility died during the transfer operations”. Following the raid, the hospital - which served as the central and referral hospital after the bombing of al-Shifa - suffered ‘serious damage’ and its future ‘is uncertain’. In the Strip, the priest explains, ‘there are still some hospitals, but all of them have serious problems or shortcomings’.

In past years, the period leading up to Palm Sunday was a time of celebration for the Catholics of the Strip, also because of the traditional pastoral visit of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa. Despite war and violence, the parish priest says, ‘we had a wonderful community celebration, starting with prayer by the clergy and some lay people at 8. 30 in the morning; then silence and meditation in front of the Holy Sacrament until 9.30, after the Rosary, the praises in Arabic, the procession in the small courtyard, which is even smaller today because it is crowded with people. Finally the blessing and the solemn mass: we spent four hours in the church - he continues - because everyone feels safer inside, even if there is no safe place at all in the whole Strip’.

After all, the parish of the Holy Family has also mourned ‘several dead and wounded’ in the past, although in recent days the area has been partially spared from Israeli attacks. ‘The bombings are close by, up to 200 metres from us, but we have only been hit by a few splinters. Last week, at times, the earth shook; you don't even hear the sounds of the explosions but you ‘only’ feel the earth trembling’.

Nevertheless, the desire to take part in the celebrations “especially among children and teenagers”, says the priest, is stronger than the devastation and the fear of the conflict. ’We live - he adds - with a great unknown. A mixture of joy and serenity, like the feeling you get during silence and meditation, combined with anguish and sadness because they hit the hospital in the early hours of the morning’.

“The structure”, he continues, ’is next to the Greek Orthodox church of Saint Porphyrios, where a lot of shrapnel fell and there were injuries. Many of our refugees are Orthodox, so they came to us even though their church is only 400 metres from here, because they are afraid’, in what has often been called “the ecumenism of blood” that unites the denominations in Gaza.

‘We all prayed together,’ he says, “for peace, for all those who have died, for the release of all those who have been deprived of their freedom, the prisoners and the hostages... it was a very heartfelt prayer. Furthermore, this year, as we celebrated together, we asked for the grace of unity for all the Christians in the world: a unity of faith, hope and charity”.

For the parish priest of Gaza, one of the priorities after having been away from the faithful for a long time during the first, long months of the conflict that flared up in October 2023 with the Hamas attack on Israeli territory and the Jewish state's military response, is to ‘be close to the people.

"During this time of Lent - he emphasises - we have implored for our own conversion and that of the world, because it is the way to attract other blessings. Then we continue to ask the Lord for peace, in our hearts and among our families, and then obviously peace in Gaza and in the rest of the Holy Land’.

The next few days will be punctuated by masses, readings and celebrations as in the rest of the world until Holy Thursday and Good Friday but ‘without outdoor services: this time - he emphasises - we were unable to prepare the re-enactment of the Passion of Christ, as we were used to doing, because it is too dangerous. We prefer - he admits - to celebrate in a more discreet and simple way’.

Finally, Father Romanelli makes an appeal to Christians all over the world: ‘We ask you to continue to pray for the gift of peace, to insist on peace and on the personal conversion of families, for peace in the Holy Land between Palestine and Israel, so that this war can really come to an end. We must convince the world that it is possible to stop the war, that it is possible to stop all conflicts, because war will not do any good, and the longer it lasts the more damage it will do. And a thank you - he concludes - goes to Pope Francis, who even in these weeks of physical trial continues to call us and is always close to us’.

(Photos taken from Fr Romanelli's Facebook page)