By Judith Sudilovsky
OSV News
JERUSALEM — Parishioners of Gaza’s Holy Family Church are feeling “horror” and almost a sense of “desperation” after an Israeli tank shell struck the church, killing three elderly people sheltering there and injuring 10, said Joseph Hazboun, regional director of the Jerusalem office of Catholic Near East Welfare Association, or CNEWA.
Hazboun has been in regular contact with the parish since the July 17 shelling of the only Catholic church in the Gaza Strip.
“The people have nowhere to go, and even if they had a place to go, they don’t want to leave,” Hazboun told OSV News. “They want the war to end and they want to go back to their life. To find food and to put food on the table for the children and for the elderly — and it doesn’t seem to be happening. … They want peace.”
The weekend visit of Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa beginning on July 18, who with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III entered Gaza that morning, was “very comforting and encouraging” for some 600 people who are sheltering in the parish compound, Hazboun said. Another 260 people are staying at the Greek Orthodox St. Porphyrios Church compound, also in Gaza City.
“At least seeing the leader of the church coming to visit with them in these very difficult and challenging times gives them comfort and support,” Hazboun said.
Having the two patriarchs visit the church immediately after the attack has renewed the world’s attention on the situation in Gaza, he noted.
Gaza residents are encouraged that “so many entities and parties and people” are now talking about what is happening in their region, he said.
Hazboun told OSV News that Cardinal Pizzaballa celebrated Mass in the parish every day of his visit, and toured the area to personally assess the situation. The patriarchate has said that the patriarchs also brought in extra provisions — for the parishes, but also for the other families in the neighborhood.
In his July 20 homily during morning Sunday Mass, Cardinal Pizzaballa assured Gaza Christians that “the unity of the Church and the solidarity of all the Churches in the world” are with them. He emphasized that the church’s concern is not limited to Christians, but also extends to every person suffering in the Gaza Strip.
Hazboun told OSV News that Bishop William Shomali, general vicar and patriarchal vicar for Jerusalem, who accompanied Cardinal Pizzaballa to Gaza, said previously that the parish had received a number of alerts by the Israel Defense Forces to leave and to go to what they self-described “safe zones.”
But having seen the forced wanderings of Palestinians who left their homes, the people decided not to go.
The war in Gaza broke out after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Southern Israeli communities in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 people taken hostage.
The Gaza Health Ministry confirmed July 20 that 58,800 people have been killed since October 2023, with scores of Palestinian civilians killed daily, including at points of humanitarian aid distribution.
On July 21, Pope Leo XIV received a phone call from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
“During the telephone call, the Holy Father repeated his appeal for international humanitarian law to be fully respected, emphasizing in particular the obligation to protect civilians and sacred places, the prohibition of the indiscriminate use of force and of the forced transfer of the population,” said a Vatican statement issued after the call.
And during a July 18 call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Pope Leo urged Israel’s leader to revive negotiations and enact a cease-fire.
Pope Leo further expressed his solidarity with Gaza Christians, praying by name for those who died in the attack during his July 20 Sunday Angelus.