Book: The Priest Who Stayed In Gaza - A Witness To Hope In The Ruins

If you find it difficult to imagine what it might be like to live in a war zone, I recommend this deeply moving book. In fact, I recommend it to anyone and everyone, with no ifs and no buts. It is inspirational.

The heroes of this story are the ordinary people of Gaza, and particularly the members of the tiny Christian community (now shrunken to around a thousand people in the Catholic and larger Orthodox communities out of a total population in Gaza of 2.7 million).

They are heroes because they endure immense daily uncertainty and suffering out of love of home, family, life, God, or a combination of these. They endure a war which they did not choose between armed groups who are motivated by revenge and one of the most powerful armies in the world, backed by the world's most powerful country, seemingly intent on driving them out of the land they love.

But Fr Gabriel Romanelli, the writer, is also a hero in my view. In fact, I think he is a saint. He is the Roman Catholic parish priest of Gaza, supported by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. He describes the daily sufferings of his noncombatant community with enormous compassion and in sufficient detail to move us repeatedly to tears. His own sufferings are included - he gets ill because of the lack of food and the insanitary conditions along with his parishioners; he becomes so exhausted he cannot remember what happened an hour ago, let alone yesterday; he is in tension at all times because of the possibility of unexpected death delivered by snipers, stray bombs, missiles, drones or helicopter gunships.

He describes the murder, by snipers, of elderly women and children from his church going about their daily business in the street or even inside the parish compound. His sense of injustice is keen, but so is his desire to transcend the mentality of hatred and vengeance that keeps this war going for generation after generation. He does it out of fidelity to Christ, to the Christian community, to the Church, to humanity, to goodness.

Typical of his views is: "We condemn with all our strength the death of an innocent child wherever it occurs - whether in a kibbutz or in the Gaza Strip."

He and his parishioners are greatly strengthened by the intensity of their daily communal prayer. Prayer gives them a resilience which nothing else could provide.

They are also strengthened by the support of the Church in a world which seems quick to forget their sufferings. Pope Francis phoned the parish every evening at 8pm. "The young people here say it was an antidote to despair. Each evening, he worried about our situation; he asked us to have courage, encouraged us to continue, and thanked us for praying for him and for all we were doing."

Pope Leo also has also phoned from time to time, particularly when the parish was bombed, parishioners killed and clergy injured because of what the Israeli government said was a 'technical error'.

Fr Gabriel and his colleagues also survive - and help others survive - through humour. From what my mother told me about living through the Second World War, humour kept people in Britain going under bombardment too. Fr Gabriel believes that however worried he may be inside, he must help his people, and especially the children, to find lighter hearts. "We act as if the war were not really there. We sing, we laugh, we make jokes. That gives them a kind of comfort."

Fr Gabriel was away from Gaza when the terrible attack on the Israeli kibbutz took place on 7 October 2023, initiating the current phase of war. He was unable to return for several months because entering Gaza was impossible. As soon as he could return, he did so. He could leave, as a foreign national. He chooses to stay, along with the sisters and other pastoral ministers, "not as a challenge to anyone but, on the contrary, for the sake of all: our bedridden elders, the sick, Mother Teresa's disabled children, families with children and no shelter. It is simply a spiritual and human choice. Bombs will not discourage us. We are aware of the gravity of this decision, but we will not leave Gaza City." And: "In this methodical destruction, we must continue to do good. Remain here - not out of a spirit of blind, stubborn resistance, but for Christ: to serve the Christian community and all who needs us - Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists."

Towards the end of the book, Fr Gabriel writes: "I wrote a letter to my publisher in case I were to disappear as a result of a bombardment or an attack: I want this book to be published, this testimony to be shared by others, whatever happens to me. I am serene."

Please read it!

The Priest Who Stayed In Gaza - A Witness To Hope In The Ruins, by Fr Gabriel Romanelli, was published in 2026 by Sophia Institute Press, ISBN 979-8-88911-731-5, 235 pages, available in the UK from Gracewing Publishing, Leominster, Herefordshire, £16.50.