Holy Mass at the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, led by the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli during the Advent season. December 2024. / Courtesy of Father Gabriel Romanelli

CNA Staff, Jul 18, 2025 / 04:10 am (CNA).

A reported strike on the only Catholic Church in Gaza killed three people and injured nine others July 17, according to a statement from the Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM. Among the injured was the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli. Pictures showed damage to the church’s roof and windows.

Amid the ongoing war in Gaza, the parish has been a refuge for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Here are eight things to know about Holy Family Church in Gaza:  

1) The parish is the only Catholic Church in Gaza  

Holy Family parish was built in the 1960s. Before it became a shelter, the were about 130 Catholics in Gaza according NCR .

Christians are a minority in the overwhelmingly Muslim territory, with only 1,000 Christians, according to the 2024 U.S. State Department’s international religious freedom report. Most Palestinian Christians are Greek Orthodox, though other Christians such as Roman Catholics, Melkite Greek Catholics, and some Protestant denominations have a presence in Gaza and the West Bank. Christians represent less than 1% of Gaza, according to the Latin Patriarchate website. 

Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with about 5,000 people per square kilometer. The area is also highly impoverished with a high level of unemployment.  Children under 15 make up about 50% of the population, per a 2022 Palestine Ministry of Health report. 

2) The parish has provided shelter for over 500 people 

The parish complex is a makeshift home to over 500 people: mostly Orthodox, Protestant, and Catholic Christians but also some Muslim families, as well as children with disabilities. The parish complex was converted to an improvised shelter at the beginning of the war between the terrorist group Hamas and Israel, which began more than a year and a half ago when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing over 1200 men, women, and children, and kidnapping more than 250 hostages. About 20 living hostages still remain in Gaza. 

3) The parish has a successful school

In addition to the church, the parish has a Latin Patriarchate school. Built in 1974 by the Latin Patriarchate, the Holy Family School has more than 600 students, both Christian and non-Christian. It is considered the best school in Gaza, according to the patriarchate website.

4) The pastor is a Buenos Aires native 

Father Gabriel Romanelli, a priest of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, a branch of the Religious Family of the Incarnate Word, is the pastor of the church and is a native of Buenos Aires. He was injured in the leg by shrapnel in Israel's recent attack on the parish. Romanelli came to the Middle East as part of his missionary vocation as a seminarian. After his ordination, the Argentinian priest spent two years in Egypt learning Arabic and then went to Jordan. In 2019, he arrived in Gaza as the parish priest. In 2023 (when the Israel-Hamas war started) he was evacuated to Jerusalem, but decided to return to minister to his flock and support the community there. 

5) Three orders of religious sisters help the parish 

The Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa, have been in Gaza for more than 50 years, since 1973. Several sisters care for the elderly and disabled at a convent in the parish complex. In December 2023, their convent was hit by rockets, creating a fire that made the convent uninhabitable. Two women were killed in the attack on the convent, which the patriarchate alleged was targeted by the IDF, but the IDF denied responsibility.  

The Holy Rosary Sisters also have a presence in the Tal Al Hawa neighborhood in Gaza. The sisters  founded a school in 2000 with more than 800 students, 10% of whom are Christian. But early on in the Israel-Hamas conflict, the school — which was evacuated days before — was severely damaged. The two Rosary sisters now reside at Holy Family Parish.

The Servants of the Lord the Virgin of Matará  (SSVM), also known as the “Servidoras,” also have a presence in Gaza, as well as throughout the Middle East. Along with the pastor Romanelli, the Servidoras are part of a larger religious family known as the Family of the Incarnate Word. Two Servidoras — who are also biological twins — decided to stay in Gaza at the start of the conflict and continue to minister to the people there.

6) Pope Francis made daily calls to the parish

In the last year and a half of his life, even after being hospitalized, Pope Francis called the Holy Family Parish almost daily. The last call Francis made to the parish was on Easter vigil on April 19, just two days before his death. The calls were simple check-ins via WhatsApp, usually lasting about a minute. The parish grew to expect the nightly calls and the children called the Holy Father “grandfather.” 

7) The parish compound has been bombed before 

The parish has directly come under attack before, including a bombing that occurred about 1,000 feet away from the church in March. In April, Romanelli called Gaza a “prison” and urged world leaders to seek peace. This week’s attack on the church was reportedly by an Israeli tank. The Israel Foreign Ministry expressed “deep sorrow” at the damage and casualties and said that the IDF is examining the incident, adding that Israel “never targets churches or religious sites.”

8) The parish's welfare is a priority for Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pizzaballa

In response to the recent attack, the Latin Patriarch Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM said that he is “always” trying “to reach Gaza in all possible ways,” noting that “we will never leave them alone,” according to Vatican News. 

The sentiment is one that Pizzaballa has consistently highlighted and practiced. He visited the parish in May 2024 and again in December 2024. Last month, the cardinal stressed the “utmost importance” of supporting the parish community there. “Our primary concern is our community in Gaza: to support them, to be present for them, to not abandon them,” he told ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.