Gaza Catholic school reopens for 1,000 pupils after nearly three years of war

THE school attached to the Gaza’s only Roman Catholic Church proudly opened its doors again this morning (Tuesday, 15th September) – a sign of hope as the death toll in the strip rose to 73,789.

Father Gabriel Romanelli said he hoped the re-opening of the school after almost three years of war, since the Hamas attacks on 7th October 2023, will be “like a light in the darkness for the local community that has experienced so much suffering.”

Fr Romanelli told a delegation from Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), that was visiting the Holy Land to assess the needs of the local Church and hear first-hand about their situation, that “the needs in Gaza are enormous”.

The parish priest of Holy Family Catholic Church told the ACN delegation: “For the students and the families, re-opening the school will bring some sense of normality. We have worked hard to ensure that it is a safe environment. 

“There is almost nowhere in Gaza that has not been destroyed, destruction is all around – but we have worked hard to make the school a clean environment, where the children – who have been through so much – can feel safe,” 

Before the war, five Christian schools operated in Gaza: three Catholic, one Orthodox and one Evangelical. Christian pupils were spread among these schools. Now, for the first time, all Christian students will attend the same school, Holy Family School.

Providing places for around 1,000 pupils, the school will serve not only the local parish, but also the wider community with the majority of the students being Muslim.

George Akroush, Director of the Project Development Office of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, told ACN that around 130 Christian pupils will study at Holy Family School, making up approximately 13 percent of the student body.

Mr Akroush said: “For the first time, all Christian students in Gaza will be studying together in one Christian school.

“This creates a strong sense of community and shows that the Church remains close to them, accompanying them in the midst of all they are going through.”

The school is re-opening after many of those internally displaced by the war have returned to their homes. Up to now, more than 450 people had been living in the school seeking shelter from the Israeli bombardment that followed the Hamas attacks.

Fr Romanelli said that the parish is committed to ensuring that the people can feel some sense of normality, “even though nothing is normal in Gaza”. 

Every Sunday, he said, after the parish Mass, he brings parishioners to the beach in Gaza City “even though the water in the beach is filled with rubble – everywhere in Gaza is filled with rubble – we want to have some time of recreation for the families.”

The war has changed everything in Gaza, Fr Romanelli told the delegation, and people remain deeply affected. “It is important also for the teachers that the school re-opens,” he said. “Many of the teachers are so traumatised, and it is almost as if they are not the same people who we knew before the start of the war.”

Fr Romanelli said that special attention has been given to designing the school programme to take account of what everyone has been through. “In the past, for example, we never had psycho-social support on the school programme – now that will be an important part of what we do with the children and the teachers,” he said.

“Everyone in Gaza is carrying so much trauma,” he added. Holy Family School will also serve as a vital base for post-school activities, with Fr Romanelli saying the children were asking him: “Please keep the school open after-school, Father, we have nothing to do and nowhere to go.”

“For me the school is a light in the darkness, it means a lot to people – when they see the 1,000 students coming in their uniforms to the school it shows them that there is a future,” he said.

Aid to the Church in Need is providing support for vital projects across the Holy Land including Jerusalem and the West Bank.