In the heart of Gaza, where destruction and despair threaten to overwhelm, the face of Mother Teresa—both in her image at the altar and in the quiet heroism of her sisters—stands as an icon of hope
Newsroom (05/09/2025, Gaudium Press ) In the shadow of relentless conflict, where the sounds of airstrikes and the weight of uncertainty hang heavy, the Latin parish of the Holy Family in Gaza City gathered this morning to celebrate the feast of Saint Teresa of Kolkata, the enduring saint of the least and the defenseless. On this solemn occasion, marking 28 years since her death on September 5, 1997, the small Catholic community turned to her intercession, drawing strength from her legacy of unwavering compassion amid the chaos of war.
Father Gabriel Romanelli, the parish’s pastor and a member of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, led the Mass with a portrait of Mother Teresa placed reverently at the foot of the altar. The celebration, shared through poignant images of community life on social media, capped a nine-day novena that began as Israeli military operations intensified, with troops advancing ever closer to Gaza City. The parish’s devotion to Mother Teresa, whose life embodied service to the marginalized, resonates deeply in a place where survival itself is a daily act of resilience.
The Holy Family parish shares a profound bond with the Missionaries of Charity, the order Mother Teresa founded in 1950. Alongside the Argentine nuns of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara—the female branch of Father Romanelli’s institute—these sisters are the only Catholic religious women remaining in Gaza. Since their arrival in February 1973, the Missionaries of Charity have embedded themselves in the suffering of this battered land. They came mere weeks after the killing of Father Hanna Al-Nimri, the Latin community’s priest, taking on the somber task of scrubbing blood from the parish walls—a stark initiation into their mission.
For over half a century, the sisters have dedicated themselves to caring for dozens of severely disabled individuals housed in their home within the parish compound. Their work, rooted in Mother Teresa’s vision of seeing Christ in the poorest of the poor, has provided a lifeline to those often forgotten in times of crisis. In 1982, Mother Teresa herself visited Gaza during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, a journey that also saw her courageously navigate the Israeli siege of Beirut to rescue 100 children from a Muslim orphanage, an act of defiance against the brutality of war.
Today, as Gaza endures its 700th day of this latest conflict, the Missionaries of Charity remain steadfast. As Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilus III recently affirmed in a joint statement, the sisters have chosen to stay in Gaza City, ministering to the vulnerable despite the escalating dangers. Their presence is a living testament to Mother Teresa’s ethos: that love, rooted in faith, can outshine even the darkest expressions of hatred and ideological division.
In the heart of Gaza, where destruction and despair threaten to overwhelm, the face of Mother Teresa—both in her image at the altar and in the quiet heroism of her sisters—stands as an icon of hope. Her legacy, forged in the crucible of human suffering, continues to inspire a community clinging to faith and resilience. As the war presses on, the Holy Family parish and the Missionaries of Charity embody a message as urgent now as it was 28 years ago: that peace, however fragile, begins with acts of love that refuse to be extinguished.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Asianews.it
Related Images:
