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 regional director of the Jerusalem office of Catholic Near East Welfare Association, or CNEWA, Joseph Hazboun.
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.”
They have a few more wishes, he said: for the incessant buzzing of drones to stop, for the bombing and shelling to end, for a moment of quiet so they can appreciate the silence once again. But at the moment, he said, all this seems impossible.
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.
“Although Gaza has been on the screen of millions of people around the world, including the world leaders, now again, it’s more pressure,” he said.
Gaza residents are encouraged that “so many entities and parties and people” are now talking about what is happening in their region, he said.
“They know that the world is watching and following up, but they’re disappointed that not so much is happening regardless of this, the severe attack and the brutality of what is happening, and especially using food and water, starvation as a weapon,” 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.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a statement following the June 18-20 visit by Cardinal Pizzaballa that the patriarch “has long been committed to visiting the Holy Family Parish in Gaza twice a year. Yet this most recent visit became, in itself, a miracle and a door of hope amid the ongoing conflict.”
The July 21 statement said that “Amid the ruins of war and the pain of long days, the Holy Family Latin Parish in Gaza continues to stand firm — offering a living witness to faith and Christian resilience.”
Read more: https://www.osvnews.com/patriarchs-visit-hailed-a-miracle-while-parishioners-in-gaza-feel-horror-desperation/
by Judith Sudilovsky | osvnews
