GAZA: priests remain with most vulnerable during ongoing genocide

AS the United Nations concludes genocide has occurred in Gaza, the local Church has reported demolition of the city just streets away – yet still refuses to evacuate.

Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) today (Thursday 18th September), George Akroush development director for Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarchate, said: “The civilian population continues to suffer from bombings, displacement, and an acute shortage of food, medicine, and electricity.

“In recent days, the Israeli army has begun demolishing homes just a few hundred metres from the Catholic compound, apparently in preparation for an upcoming ground operation, since the streets in Gaza City are too narrow for tanks or large military vehicles.

“These nearby demolitions keep families in constant fear and worry.”

Catholic charity ACN previously reported Christian ministers in Gaza are defying evacuation orders that could mean “destruction and death” for those who don’t leave.

Argentinian Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in Gaza City, told ACN: “Faced with the reality of the elderly, the sick, the exhausted, the depressed and the children, it seems to us that the Lord is asking us to stay and continue to serve those who suffer. This is a simply human and spiritual observation.”

Fr Romanelli – along with another two priests and two religious sisters of the Institute of the Incarnate Word and three Missionaries of Charity – cares for around 450 refugees, mostly Catholic and Orthodox, but including Muslims and people with disabilities who are too vulnerable to move.

Mr Akroush told ACN that the Patriarchate believes the priests and Sisters have made the right choice, given the circumstances.

He said: “Remaining at the compound is indeed a wise decision by our people, since nowhere in Gaza can truly be considered safe.

“Those who left are enduring some of the worst situations of their lives: tents are erected in the middle of the streets, hygiene conditions are extremely poor, and there is a severe shortage of everything.

“Above all, death is everywhere, and the fact is that there is no such thing as a safe place in Gaza.”

Fr Romanelli told ACN: “We are well, thank God, although the situation is terrible. Nobody knows where this war is going.

“We share what we have with our neighbours, but what is really important is that the war should end.”

On Tuesday (16th September), the United Nations (UN) Independent Commission of Inquiry concluded that four of the five acts defined in the 1948 genocide convention have been carried out in the Gaza Strip by Israeli authorities and security forces since fighting began in 2023. Israel’s foreign ministry rejected the UN report’s findings.

Pope Leo XIV called on the international community to find a solution other than the forced exile that the civilian population is currently facing. He said: “We must find another way”.

Fr Romanelli said: “We continue to pray and we try to do good to everybody.

“Thank you to all those who support us. Continue to pray for us, and for all who work for peace.”

With thanks to Christophe Lafontaine and Maria Lozano