The education of children in Gaza has been a priority for Argentine priest Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Church of the Holy Family, the only Catholic temple in the area, devastated by the ongoing war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip.
In a dialogue with the pontifical foundation Help the Church in Need (ACN), Father Romanelli commented that the situation in the area is “very bad,” specifically in Gaza City. The priest decided to return to his parish in May of this year, after 7 months of being in Bethlehem, where he was when the conflict broke out in October 2023.
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“We started teaching classes to children with the help of teachers, from preschool to first year of secondary school, teaching them at least Arabic, English, mathematics and science, but we had to suspend them because many projectiles fell nearby. Now we have started again,” said the priest.
“What we have never suspended are adoration, praying the Rosary or Mass, and we continue to pray for peace,” he said.
In that sense, representatives of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (PLJ), the ecclesiastical constituency to which the Gaza parish belongs, explained to ACN that there are less than 400 Catholics left in the territory.
The parish of the Holy Family is home to 416 Christians, including Catholics and Orthodox, and also cares for 63 children with disabilities thanks to the support of the Missionaries of Charity. Another 204 Orthodox are taking refuge in a compound adjacent to the parish.
One of these representatives is Sami El-Yousef, executive director of the PLJ, who highlighted the educational work promoted by Father Romanelli. “Our plan is to provide basic education, given that the school year begins in August, which will already be the second year without adequate education,” he assured.
“There are still some teachers, but others have left, and we have lost contact with those who remain in the north. “We are trying to rent the lot in front of the parish and perhaps locate containers to use as temporary classrooms,” El-Yousef added.
The PLJ ran a second school in Gaza, which became a shelter. The Patriarchate assures that there were hopes of reactivating it as soon as possible, however it was hit by missiles and there are no guarantees that it will be operational again in the future.
Andres Henriquez
I have been a writer for ACI Prensa and a correspondent for EWTN since 2023. Since then, I have covered events in the Catholic Church in Venezuela and Latin America. I have more than 5 years of experience in bilingual media. Additionally, in Venezuela I have worked with non-governmental organizations in favor of freedom and respect for human rights in the country. I have been a member of the Regnum Christi Federation since 2014.