Wounded But Unbroken: Gaza Priest Reveals How Faith Survives Under Bombs

In the heart of Gaza City, hope flickers like a candle against the relentless crush of war.

For Father Gabriel Romanelli of the Holy Family Church, each day dawns with anxious prayers and the echo of distant explosions.

On a night etched in sorrow, a missile slammed into the parish compounds, claiming the lives of three and wounding fifteen more.

The pain was immediate and overwhelming.

Yet, in the aftermath, the parish community chose defiance shaped by faith instead of despair.

Wounded but unbroken, they gathered amidst the rubble for Mass, holding battered rosaries close as the city’s skyline burned.

Father Romanelli’s voice trembled as he described the devastation: “Every time a bomb falls, the question comes — how do we continue to believe?”

His answer, forged through sleepless nights and huddled prayer, stands firm: “Because Christ is near, even here.”

The Holy Family Church — Gaza’s only Catholic parish — has become a refuge within chaos for dozens of families.

Parishioners share rations and stories, leaning on each other for strength as Israeli forces and militants trade fire outside.

Local aid efforts are stymied by destroyed roads, yet the church remains a lifeline, with its doors never shut to the desperate.

Father Romanelli now ministers to a flock battered but not broken, drawing on the core Catholic truth of “carrying our cross.”

Recent power outages and the collapse of neighborhoods haven’t kept the faithful from lighting prayer candles or singing hymns in shelters.

This stubborn devotion sends a message far beyond Gaza’s borders: Faith does not vanish under air raids — it adapts, persists, and sometimes grows fiercer.

For Catholics worldwide, the resilience on display in Gaza is a living Gospel — survival laced with compassion, and grace under siege.

According to Father Romanelli, “Our wounds don’t make us weaker. They prove that love and faith can endure the unimaginable.”

As bomb craters multiply and hope seems in short supply, the Holy Family Church still stands — battered, yes, but shining with courage and conviction.