Father Gabriel Romanelli, Gaza City's Holy Family Parish priest, is seen with a parish child in Gaza City during the May 16-19, 2024, visit of the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa. Father Romanelli returned to his parish community after he was stranded in Jerusalem after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israel-Hamas war that has left the northern Gaza Strip in ruins. Photo: OSV News/courtesy Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem Exclusive
Father Gabriel Romanelli, the only Catholic parish priest in the entire Gaza Strip has said that Ireland’s recognition of the state of Palestine was very well received by Christians in Gaza.
“People are very discouraged in general because there is a lot of news on the international scene that seems like promises but is often not kept” he said. “However, the recognition of Palestine by Ireland and others was very well received. Our faithful, then, remember well that the first state to have recognised Palestine was the Vatican State. Sometimes they feel the Christians of the world are distant from their cause but at the same time they experience the closeness of the universal Church.”
Father Gabriel Romanelli, an Argentinean of Italian origin, belongs to the religious family of the Incarnate Word. He is the only Catholic parish priest in the entire Gaza Strip. His parish, dedicated to the Holy Family, is located in the al-Zaitoun quarter of Gaza city (north of the Strip)