Pope Leo XIV offers Easter prayers and blessings to Gaza’s Catholics facing fear and loss during Israel’s ongoing war.
Newsroom (07/04/2026 Gaudium Press ) As Gaza’s skies echoed with the sounds of conflict rather than celebration, Pope Leo XIV’s Easter message reached the battered Catholic community within the war-torn enclave — a rare moment of spiritual light amid suffocating darkness.
Father Gabriel Romanelli, pastor of Holy Family Parish, Gaza’s only Catholic church, shared that he received Easter greetings directly from the pontiff. In a video posted to his X account on April 6, Romanelli said the Pope “has been constantly in contact with us, through messages and at times, through phone calls,” adding that he has often sent blessings and expressed continual prayers for the people of Gaza. “The pope’s prayers and his blessing are a great blessing for this community,” he said, his tone both weary and resolute.
Holy Family Parish stands as a lone beacon of Catholic presence in the devastated strip. The parish and its small faithful have drawn the personal concern of both Pope Leo XIV and his predecessor, Pope Francis, since Israel began its military campaign following Hamas’s deadly October 7, 2023 assault. What began as a war aimed at dismantling Hamas has evolved into a humanitarian catastrophe. The UNRWA recently reported that more than 72,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 172,000 injured between October 2023 and March 2026.
The church itself has not been spared. An Israeli tank shell struck the building months earlier, killing three people and wounding nine, including Father Romanelli, who suffered a leg injury. From his recovery, Romanelli continued ministering to his flock, documenting the dark yet defiantly hopeful Holy Week celebrations in Gaza City.
In another video recorded on Easter Sunday, April 5, he spoke of the spiritual endurance of his congregation. “Jesus is risen, and we’re convinced that Jesus’ resurrection is the cause of our spiritual and physical resurrection,” he said. Despite fear and loss, his voice carried conviction that “death is only a passage,” and happiness must be lived even amid grief.
While Gaza’s community worshiped under siege, Christians across the Holy Land observed what Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, described as a “different and strange Easter.” In his April 5 message, he lamented the muted atmosphere this year — “without gathering, without people, very low profile.” With the U.S.-Israeli-led war against Iran escalating, access to major liturgies, including those at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, was severely restricted.
Cardinal Pizzaballa presided over Easter services inside the ancient basilica that holds the sites of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. In his reflection, he reminded the faithful that darkness itself framed the Resurrection story. Christ’s triumph, he said, “happened during the night,” a symbol that even amid despair, no situation “will not allow us to celebrate the risen Lord.”
His message was clear: faith must persist even when it is stripped of its familiar comforts. “Jesus is not waiting for us to be at the right level of faith,” he said. “He gave the gratuitous gift to transform our wounds.”
For the Catholics of Gaza — hemmed in by destruction, bereavement, and siege — those words resonate deeply. As Pope Leo XIV’s Easter blessing crossed borders besieged by artillery and grief, it affirmed what Father Romanelli called “the fullness of salvation” — a belief powerful enough to survive even war.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from OSV News
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