The Pope talked to us even during his long stay in the hospital, asked about how children were, what they ate, how they endure the war – said Romanelli, who is the pastor of the parish of St. Families in Gaza Vatican News.
Francis talked not only with the priest, but with other members of the Catholic community in Gaza; “A saint left us, who taught us every day courage, patience and strength who fought every day to protect us,” added George Antone, a Gaza parishioner in an interview with the Reuters agency.
“We are broken by the death of Pope Francis, but we know that he leaves a church that cares for us and knows each of us by name,” Antone added.
The Orthodox church of St. Porphyrius. According to various territories, about a thousand Christians live on Palestinian territory, including about 100 Catholics. In recent days, both communities celebrated the Festival of the Resurrection, which this year was celebrated at the same time by Catholics and Orthodox.
In Franciszek's message read on Easter Sunday, the Pope said that he remembers the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, especially about the local Christian community. Francis once again appealed for peace, release of Israeli hostages and resumption of humanitarian aid for starving Palestinians.
In condolences and reactions to the death of the Pope, Christians of various denominations from the Middle East emphasized Franciszek's commitment to peace in the region.
Conflict in the Middle East
Since the beginning of the war, Israel with Hamas in the autumn of 2025, over 51.2 thousand died. Palestinians, of which 37 during the last day – was given by the Hamas Ministry of Health of this territory in a Sunday announcement.
The war broke out after Hamas's attack to southern Israel on October 7, 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 abducted. The Israeli army believes that 24 hostages remain in captivity and the bodies of 35 more kidnapped are detained.
The gauze zone is ruined, it has a humanitarian crisis.
