Holy Land: The State of Things after the Bombings in Gaza

The pastor of the only Catholic parish in Gaza, Fr. Jorge Hernandez (in the middle of the picture), was received by Pope Francis on August 29, 2014, “as a gesture of solidarity with the small community living there”, announced the Vatican in a press release by the AFP on the same day.

The Argentinian missionary of the Institute of the Word Incarnate, who has been a missionary in Gaza for the past 5 years, expressed his gratitude to the pope whose “closeness” was “a great consolation.”

In an interview granted to the press agency I.Media on August 29, he revealed that the Sovereign Pontiff had “even called to hear about the situation”, and that he had “also written an email” during the bombings that killed a total of 2,150 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 70 Israelis, most of whom were soldiers. “He encouraged us to go forward, to continue to profess Jesus and to be the salt of the earth. He also repeated several times that peace is possible but that it demands sacrifices.” For the Argentinian pastor, who remained near his faithful throughout the whole battle, “the shepherd dies for his flock. We could not leave, abandon the parish and the schools. For us, for the priest and the religious who live with me, remaining was an experience of concrete charity (…). This is the land that welcomed Jesus in his flight from Egypt with his parents. And Jesus will never forget that Gaza welcomed Him. That is part of our faith.”

In this same interview, Fr. Hernandez explained that during the Israeli army’s attacks, he opened the doors of the Christian schools “to shelter almost 1,200 people, all Muslim,” who were fleeing the bombings. “It was yet another opportunity for them to realize that we Christians are part of this country and even more so during the war.”

The structures that belong to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem were not directly hit, expect for the home of the sisters of the Word Incarnate near the Italian Bishops’ Conference, that is no longer habitable.

A delegation from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem paid a visit on September 1. According to Bishop William Shomali, “80% of the houses and buildings have been reduced to a pile of ruins” in the Sajaya district. For the auxiliary bishop of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, quoted by the press agency Apic in a press release published the day after the visit, “we saw things that can only be compared to the villages destroyed during World War II.” The prelate also declared that “the people are relieved to see a lasting cease-fire,” even if “it will take years to return to the former situation. Which feeds the discouragement and sweeps away hope for the future (…) Many dream only of leaving, even in the small Christian community.”

In a population of  over 1.8 million in Gaza, there were fewer than 3,000 Christians before the summer bombings.

(sources: apic/imedia – DICI no.300 dated Sept. 12, 2014)

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