La Iglesia Cristiana no se irá de Gaza ciudad. Christians in Gaza city are committed to serving those in need. ESP ENG

ESPAÑOL

No acata la orden de evacuación del gobierno de Israel. La Iglesia no se irá de Gaza

26 agosto 2025 

En una declaración conjunta, los Patriarcas Latino Católico y Griego Ortodoxo de Jerusalén anunciaron que sacerdotes, religiosas y comunidades cristianas permanecerán en sus recintos en Gaza, a pesar de las órdenes de evacuación emitidas en el marco de la ofensiva terrestre israelí sobre la ciudad de Gaza. 

 

Las autoridades israelíes han ordenado a la población evacuar hacia el sur de la Franja de Gaza, donde supuestamente estarían más seguros de los combates. Sin embargo, para muchos refugiados, desplazarse en medio de los bombardeos y con escasez de alimentos, agua y medicinas, equivale a una sentencia de muerte.  

 

Actualmente, alrededor de 550 cristianos —mitad católicos y mitad ortodoxos— viven refugiados en la parroquia católica de la Sagrada Familia, además de más de 70 personas con discapacidad atendidas por las Hermanas Misioneras de la Caridad. Otros 150 cristianos se encuentran en el recinto ortodoxo de San Porfirio.  

 

La parroquia de la Sagrada Familia se ha convertido en un refugio vital: ofrece albergue, medicinas y asistencia a cientos de familias, y además brinda apoyo a miles de personas fuera de su recinto que carecen de lo más básico. Desde que comenzó la guerra, ha sido uno de los principales puntos de ayuda para toda la población civil, sin distinción de credo.  

 

«Al igual que otros habitantes de Gaza, los refugiados que viven en estos recintos tendrán que decidir según su conciencia. Muchos están debilitados y desnutridos tras meses de penurias, y salir sería imposible para ellos. Por eso el clero y las religiosas han decidido permanecer y cuidar de todos quienes sigan en los recintos», señalaron los Patriarcas Pierbattista Pizzaballa y Teófilo III.  Los Patriarcas hicieron un urgente llamado a poner fin a la espiral de violencia:      

 

«No puede haber futuro basado en el cautiverio, el desplazamiento o la venganza. Es hora de sanar a las familias que sufren en todos los lados».

 

ENGLISH

Gazan Christians remain with those who suffer

 

As Pope Leo XIV appeals for peace in Gaza, Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the only Catholic parish in Gaza, tells Vatican News that Christians in the enclave are committed to serving those in need, asking people to pray for an end to the war.

 

The parish priest and the other religious of the Holy Family Catholic Church in the Gaza Strip have chosen to continue “serving those in need—the elderly, the sick.”  Speaking to Vatican News, Fr. Gabriel Romanelli said, “We are in the Lord’s hands, and we trust that, with the help of many good people around the world, this will stop.”  

 

Everyone gathered at the only Catholic parish in Gaza “are here for Jesus Christ, to serve Him in the Eucharist, and we serve Him in the person of the poor and the sick, of those who suffer,” said the Argentinian-born priest.  

 

Fr. Romanelli and the religious men and women with him in the compound have chosen to remain at the side of those in need and to “serve everyone,” since that is what the Lord has asked of them, he said.  In the parish, along with the parish priest, there are other priests of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, sisters of the same religious family, and the Missionaries of Charity.  

 

“We all share the same feelings,” said Fr. Romanelli. “Seeing the needs of the elderly, of those who are anxious, of those who are sad and anguished, of people with disabilities, we understand that the Lord is calling us to continue serving them—because otherwise, how will those people survive, how will they manage?” Pray for peace, stop the war  

 

The parish priest and the other religious join the appeal issued on Tuesday by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III.  Fr. Romanelli said he and all in the Gaza parish “continue to pray for peace, for the freedom of all those who are deprived of it, for the hostages, for the possibility that the thousands and thousands of sick and wounded people who cannot find, anywhere in the entire Gaza Strip, the care they need may be treated.”

 

Destruction, deaths, and injuries  The situation in Gaza City has become particularly serious in recent weeks, with an escalation in military operations and bombings in various parts of the city.  Fr. Romanelli said these operations have brought “more deaths, more destruction, more wounded.”  

 

“This is the general situation which, looking to the future, creates more uncertainty for everyone: the fact that the war will continue and that the next stage could be war directly against the city of Gaza,” he said.  Fr. Romanelli invited everyone to pray for peace and called for an end to the conflict.  “We, with great simplicity and humility, will carry on here,” he said.

 

“It is not easy, but we are in the Lord’s hands, and we trust that, with the help of many good people in the world, all this will one day stop.”