CNN
—
The final call lasted 30 seconds. Just enough time to say hello and ask if everyone was okay. But for Gaza’s tiny Christian population, the phone call from Pope Francis was a ray of hope that shone through the horrors of war.
Every day since the beginning of the war 18 months ago, the pope rang the Holy Family Church in Gaza City around 8pm, Father Gabriel Romanelli, the pastor of the besieged territory’s only Catholic parish, told CNN. On most days, the call lasted about 15 minutes, during which the pope would speak with the church leaders and some of the Palestinians sheltering at the church.
For Palestinians, it became a daily reminder that Gaza was not forgotten.
“He shows us his paternity. He is very close to us,” said Romanelli. “All the time he called us throughout this war – this horrible war – for more than a year and a half, he would call for peace and send his blessings to all of Gaza’s people.”
From the beginning, Francis repeatedly called for an end to the war and was an outspoken critic of Israel’s siege on the territory. In his Easter message the day before he died, he wished that “the light of peace radiate throughout the Holy Land and the entire world.”
“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’ message said. “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!”
The Holy Family Church in Gaza has become a shelter for the enclave’s tiny Christian community. Displaced by Israel’s bombardment of the territory, Christian families have turned to the parish as a place to find relative safety. Makeshift tents fill the crammed courtyard, the solid edifice of the church overlooking the flimsy havens. According to the church and Gaza’s Ministry of Health, Israeli strikes have killed around 20 members of the enclave’s small Christian community. Some Muslim children and their families have come to the church as well, the church said.
“His Holiness the pope was not an ordinary person,” said Musa Antone, a Christian resident of Gaza. “He was a man of faith who inquired about both Christians and Muslims.”
For years, Antone said, Francis gave the Christian community strength. “He was concerned about all of Gaza, providing reassurance and strength to the Christian community so that they would not leave Gaza,” Antone told CNN. Once numbering several thousand, the community dwindled as more Christians chose to leave. The pope, Antone said, helped keep it alive.
“It is true that we have lost his body, but we will not lose him as a spirit,” Antone said.
In May 2014, Francis made his only visit to the occupied West Bank. He never visited Gaza, but the Holy Family Church described his concern for the enclave as a “father’s anxiety for his children.”
“He always sought to dispel the fear within us, reassuring us that we should not be afraid, that he was with us, and that he prayed for us, and that we should pray for everyone as well,” Father George Antone, the head of the emergency committee at the church, told CNN.
The world’s Catholic population numbers around 1.4 billion. In Gaza, fewer than 1,400 Christians remain, and the number of Catholics is smaller still – an almost invisible minority within an overwhelmingly Muslim Palestinian society. Pope Francis could have overlooked them, as they represented less than 0.0001% of his global flock. He could have called less often.
But he refused.
Even when he was in critical condition in the hospital, the pope called, Father Romanelli told CNN. The last call was on Saturday. At the usual time, the pontiff held one of his shortest phone calls with the church. It lasted less than a minute, Romanelli said.
“He was so sick but insisted to do that call as usual.”
