One final call: Pope Francis’ last blessing echoes in Gaza
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- After the start of the war between Hamas and Israel, the pope called a small parish in Gaza City every night to ask how they were doing.
- ‘He truly became a member of the congregation,’ said a parish priest.
- Francis often spoke up in defense of Palestinians and was outspoken in his criticism of Israel for its blockade of Gaza.
GAZA CITY — “Pope o’clock.” That’s what Gaza residents sheltering in this besieged Catholic parish called the time — usually 8 p.m. local time, 7 p.m. in Rome — when Pope Francis would video call Father Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor of the Holy Family Church in Gaza City.
“When he called, everyone would gather near the screen and say hello, in Italian, in Arabic, in English,” said Romanelli, one of Gaza’s last remaining priests.
In a place where killing seems omnipresent, the all-too-ordinary death of Pope Francis, who died on Monday at the age of 88, may have passed with little more than a moment’s thought for some. But for the church officials and the families at Holy Family Church, the pope was not a distant religious figure in a faraway country, but a daily presence.
“He truly became a member of the congregation,” Romanelli said.
Francis’ phone calls, which began almost as soon as the war between Hamas and Israel kicked off some 18 months ago, became a touchstone, a moment of solace in a time of relentless bleakness. Yet through those phone calls, the pope came to understand the suffering of Gaza residents, Christians and Muslims alike, said George Anton, head of the Emergency Response Committee for the Catholic Church in Gaza.
“He listened, really listened. He was asking, ‘What did you eat today? Did you eat anything?’ And it wasn’t a casual question. He came to know Gaza — not from news reports, but from our voices, our hearts,” he said.
“As Palestinian Christians, we often feel forgotten, but in those moments, we weren’t.”
The calls were only one manifestation of Francis’ concern for people in the Holy Land on both sides. In his speeches, he often beseeched the warring parties to forge a ceasefire and end the suffering; he was outspoken in his criticism of Israel for its blockade of Gaza — including its most recent siege since March 2, which has stopped all humanitarian assistance into the enclave, according to aid groups. To the very end, he called for peace.
“I think of the people of Gaza, and its Christian community in particular, where the terrible conflict continues to cause death and destruction and to create a dramatic and deplorable humanitarian situation,” Francis said in his Easter message.
“I appeal to the warring parties: Call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace!”
It was a stance that the Rev. Munther Isaac, a Lutheran pastor in Bethlehem, saw as a counterweight to the muscular brand of conservative Christianity increasingly dominating U.S. discourse on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Christian groups in America pray for Israel and have no problem if the war continues, while Pope Francis was calling for the fighting to end,” Isaac said. “He showed another face of Christianity, which I think is the true one — the face of peace.”
He continued: “Without a doubt, he was a friend, and someone who played a role in showing the humanitarian side of Palestinians at a time when we have been dehumanized.”
Gaza’s Christian population numbers around 1,000 people — a minuscule proportion of the roughly 2.3 million people (most of them Muslims) in the enclave. Over the last year and a half of the war, Romanelli said, 19 Christians have been killed in Israeli attacks, while an additional 20 died due to lack of medical treatment and the dire conditions in the enclave. Hundreds of Christians, but also some Muslims, uprooted by Israeli bombardment, now reside on church grounds or in the surrounding environs. Some live in the church.
One of the latter was Mohammad Al-Madhoun, a 40-year-old plumber.
“I found safety between the church’s walls, and I stayed to help — fixing pipes, saving water, doing what I could for the people sheltering here, whether Muslim or Christian,” Al-Madhoun said, remembering the days when the bombings were close enough to shake the ground, including a strike near the church gate that killed 17 people. He spoke of the time the Israeli army surrounded the area, and no one could leave the church for 20 days.
“We stayed together. We cooked together, we baked bread together,” he said. “We became one family under fire, praying, waiting, surviving.”
Al-Madhoun said the pope’s call for peace resonated with everyone in Gaza, regardless of their religion. He hoped Francis’ successor would also “raise their voice for peace — not just for us in Palestine, but for every place suffering under the weight of war.”
“We’ve had enough,” he added. “It’s time for peace.”
Despite his poor health, Francis insisted on calling the church the night before he died. But Romanelli could sense he was weak.
“Normally he would video call, but this was a normal call,” Romanelli said. “He asked how we were, and told us to give his blessings to everyone present. That was it.”
Pope Francis will be laid to rest Saturday after lying in state for three days in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Nevertheless, when news first came of Francis’ death, people in the parish initially refused to believe it, Anton said.
“Or maybe we didn’t want to believe it,” he said. “Our connection with the pope made us refuse to accept this truth, even though we knew he was ill.”
Anton added that Francis had called no matter what the circumstance — whether there was shooting, or bombardments or fighting, and he never tired of advocating for the church in Gaza.
“The pope was vocal about the situation here,” he said. “He would say, ‘This is not right. Innocents must be spared.’ With his death, we are missing this protective shield. We will miss him deeply.”
Yet the parishioners hope his message will endure. Anton cited a line from the eulogy of Francis that Romanelli delivered: “Just as you were fighting for peace on Earth, let your first miracle be to achieve peace from heaven.”
Special correspondent Shbeir reported from Gaza City and Times staff writer Bulos from Beirut.
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