Over half of Gaza’s Christians fled as Church prays for a devastated community’s survival

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, in the Gaza Strip, May 2024

Nir Hasson reports in Haaretz on 22 May 2024:

Officials from the Catholic Church have expressed concern about the future of the Christian presence in Gaza, as since the start of the war, the number of Christians in Gaza has shrunk from 1,700 to 600. Most of the Christian community is concentrated in two compounds in Gaza City, while several dozen live in Khan Yunis.

On Sunday, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, returned for a four-day visit to the Christian community in Gaza. This was the first time since the beginning of the war that such a high-level church official had entered Gaza. In a meeting with journalists in Jerusalem on Monday, he described what living conditions are like for the Christian community there.

The Christian community in Gaza is divided into Catholics and Greek Orthodox, with Catholics comprising the larger group, of about 450 people. Since the start of the war, they have been living at the Holy Family church compound in central Gaza City.

Pizzaballa said that nearly all the homes of the Gazan Christians were destroyed, and so the families were given rooms in the compound, and many of them are living in classrooms. “They’ve lost everything. Every classroom is housing one or two families,” he said.

Another 150 people are sheltering in another compound in Gaza belonging to the Orthodox community, and another 40-50 Christians live in Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.

Since the war began, hundreds of Christians have left Gaza. The church is fearful that most of them will not return and that others will join them, so that eventually the ancient Christian presence in Gaza will be wiped out.

17 Christians have been killed in the war, mainly from the Orthodox community. In December, two Catholic women were killed by Israeli army fire at the church compound, an incident which resulted in a protest by the Vatican.

Cardinal Pizzaballa said that lately there has been no problem with food supplies for the people staying in the Catholic compound, but they are suffering from various health problems (mainly infectious diseases and skin diseases) because of the sanitary conditions and the poor quality of the drinking water. Also, there is a serious shortage of emotional aid for both children and adults.

The Cardinal described the situation in the surrounding city as “a very sad sight … Everything is wrecked, it’s hard to find a single intact building, people are living in temporary shelters and there is a lot of garbage everywhere, all the infrastructure is destroyed,” he said.

He went on: “There is also a lot of concern about the future, the future of the children – What will happen with the next school year? What will happen and how will it end?”

Pizzaballa said that the children he visited are living in a situation in which there is combat going on around them all the time. “There are constant bombardments and explosions and gunfire. You feel very unsettled, but the children don’t react at all. This has become pretty normal for them,” he said. The Patriarch was in Gaza for the Pentecost holiday and conducted services at the church in Gaza City.

In answer to a question about the community’s future and whether the Americans are encouraging Christian emigration from Gaza, Pizzaballa said, “[The Christians] will decide for themselves, they don’t need to be taken out of there, or to be encouraged. Some have left, perhaps others will also want to leave, but the majority want to stay.”

He added, “They don’t wish to leave, and this is why they are worried about the future and about school, and it obligates us as a church to find immediate solutions for them.”

In the coming weeks, a new collaborative project involving several Christian organizations will begin, aimed at providing regular aid for the Christian communities in Gaza City, as well as helping Muslim families in the city. An official from the Patriarchate in Jerusalem said, “the Patriarchate will do all it can to enable the continued presence of the Christians in Gaza and the future of the community there.”

Last September, Pope Francis elevated Pizzaballa to the rank of Cardinal – the highest rank in the Catholic Church under the Pope. At the start of the war, Pizzaballa declared that he was willing to trade places with the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas. At the press conference, he declined to comment on the security arrangements that were made for him during his visit to Gaza.

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