‘Our power is prayer’ — Gaza’s pastor on 6 months of war

Fr. Gabriel Romanelli on how his parish changed from an ‘oasis’ to a refugee camp.

When Fr. Gabriel Romanelli traveled to Bethlehem to buy medicine for a nun in early October, he expected to return soon to his parish in Gaza City. 

Caption: Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, pictured during an April 2024 visit to London, England. © Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk.

But the Oct. 7 attack on Israel — in which Hamas fighters killed more than 1,000 people, in…