Glasgow welcomes Gaza parish priest

Fr Gabriel Romanelli speaks in Glasgow's International Concert Hall. Image: Facebook

Fr David Stewart SJ, from Scottish Bishops' J&P Commission writes:

A large audience gathered in Glasgow's International Concert Hall on Saturday, to greet Fr Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of Holy Family Roman Catholic community in Gaza. Another nearby hall had been booked for Hope For Peace in Gaza: A Conversation With Fr Romanelli but it proved too small. Organised jointly by SCIAF (Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund), Justice & Peace Scotland (the J&P agency of the Bishops' Conference) and the Archdiocese of Glasgow, the Scottish event followed engagements in London earlier in Fr Gabriel's brief visit to England and Scotland.

The sold-out event was followed by Mass for Peace in St.Andrew's RC Metropolitan Cathedral, on the banks of the Clyde. Archbishop William Nolan of Glasgow was joined by Bishop Joseph Toal of Motherwell and Bishop Frank Dougan of Galloway, with a number of priests from across Scotland. Both the Mass and the earlier event were graced by the presence of several leaders of other Christian denominations and other faiths, including the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, Rev. Sally Foster-Fulton.

Fr Gabriel spoke softly but passionately, both in his speech at the Concert Hall and in his homily at Mass. A priest of the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE), originally from Argentina, and serving in the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, he related how he had been out of Gaza on that terrible day, October 7th 2023, dubbed by Hamas "Operation Al-Aqsa Flood". He had been in Bethlehem, trying to find urgently-needed medicine for one of his small flock and has been barred from returning since. Fr Gabriel spoke, quite obviously from the heart, about the pastoral and humanitarian realities of his small parish. He avoided debate about already well-rehearsed political positions, focusing pastorally on the suffering of his people and all in Gaza, asking us for our prayers and solidarity. "Gaza is almost a hell", he repeatedly assured us, "yet there is always hope". His simple message for the people of Scotland is, "Pray in whatever way you can, work for peace in whatever way you can".

The grim, almost unbearable statistics of suffering were confirmed by Fr Gabriel: more than 34,000 people have been killed since the murderous October 7th attack, at least 13,000 of them children, but the true number is certainly higher as many of all ages still lie unrecovered under the rubble. Probably as many as 70,000 people have been wounded. (many with life-changing injuries).

The Christian community of Holy Family has not been spared, losing over 30 people to IDF shelling of their compound; a music teacher was killed by a sniper. Seven people were wounded as they tried to protect others; no warning was given. Fr Gabriel referred us to a statement of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem last December ( www.lpj.org/posts/gaza-16th-december-2023.html ) detailing how a sniper of the IDF murdered two Christian women inside the parish compound, where the majority of Christian families has taken refuge. Nahida and her daughter Samar were shot and killed as they walked to the Sisters' Convent. One was killed as she tried to carry the other to safety. "'They were shot in cold blood inside the premises of the parish, where there are no belligerents."

The present situation, which Fr Gabriel has been able to monitor from afar, making contact with his parish on most days, is shocking. The plight of the thousands of wounded is the worst of it, lacking essential medical supplies and support; nowhere near enough aid gets in. Most buildings have been destroyed; electricity comes on sporadically and unpredictably, for perhaps only an hour or two on some days. Such water supply that remains viable must be filtered; that requires electrical power. At least 600 people are sheltering in the parish compound. "They don't know when this war will finish. There is not one safe space in all of the Gaza Strip, neither in the north or south." Nobody knows what this will all look like afterwards. The saddest statistics of all refer to the thousands of families now without homes and, in an estimation that drew a gasp from the audience, likely over 10,000 orphaned children.

The Holy Family mission, we heard, has been full of life in the 29 years that Fr Gabriel had ministered in the Middle East. The Catholic community, Holy Family, Gaza's only Roman Catholic parish, numbers no more than 135, a small part of the tiny minority of Christians in Gaza. Some are Orthodox, others Anglican, totalling just over a thousand Christians; or, as he expressed it, one in five thousand of the 2.3 million population crammed into the 350 square kilometres of the Strip. Fr Gabriel spoke of the parish in Gaza as an "oasis" for people of all faiths and none. This tiny, highly active community can run ten different parish groups; many Orthodox and Muslim fellow Palestinians work alongside the Catholics. We heard about the five Christian schools in Gaza of which three are RC; most of the teachers are Muslim and interfaith relations are very good. More gravely, we heard that whereas before October 7th 2023, the church had engaged in much outreach work in the local community, it has since been turned into a refuge, a hospital and, so sadly, a cemetery.

This extraordinary, moving day was not a forum for the politics of the situation but about peace and the hope for peace, witnessed by the churches and the Christian communities of "the land the Lord's footprints made holy", in the words of the event's Chair, Prof Bart McGettrick. Fr Gabriel sees, amid the uncertainty and pain, that the church will continue to be present in Gaza, "to wipe away many tears".

In his homily at Mass, he underlined the continuing presence of Christ in the Eucharist and he had already noted that the Holy Family church had been built over freshwater spring, that still provides some water; perhaps miraculously, but certainly here were signs of hope.

Peace, Fr Gabriel maintained, of course requires justice. But "true peace excludes aggression".

He expressed confidence that a ceasefire, while not enough, will help create the conditions for justice; not the solution, but "the one necessary step to restart the dialogue"; and we must not stop praying also for all hostages. These descendants of the first disciples of Christ, Christians who have always been there, will encourage us in Scotland never to stop praying. Fr Gabriel ended by telling us he had come to Glasgow "with one simple message", to ask us all to do "everything we can" to end this awful suffering and thus to bring hope to all the people of Gaza and the whole troubled region.