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Referring to the growing tension in the Middle East conflict, Pope Leo XIV stated: “We must pray a lot and keep working, searching, insisting on peace.”
The pastor of the only Catholic church in Gaza, Argentine priest Father Gabriel Romanelli, posted a video on his YouTube channel on July 20 describing the situation there.
Pope Leo XIV received a phone call Friday from Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, following yesterday’s Israeli army attack on Holy Family Church in Gaza.
Father Yusuf Asad, 49, assistant parochial vicar at Holy Family Church in Gaza, had just celebrated morning Mass when a loud bang sounded. At around 10:20 a.m. local time, a projectile hit the building.
The Holy Family Church in Gaza was hit Thursday amid a new wave of Israeli bombings, leaving several people dead and injured, including the church’s pastor, Gabriel Romanelli.
Following a strike against the only Catholic Church in Gaza, which left at least two dead on July 17, Pope Leo XIV issued a call for an immediate ceasefire.
Father Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor of Holy Family Parish in Gaza, summed up Pope Francis’ last call on Saturday night, April 19, moments before the Easter Vigil.