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Christians from the only Gaza Catholic Church have paid respect to Pope Francis who called them “every day” during the Israeli-Hamas war.
Speaking outside the Church of the Holy Family on Easter Monday, Father Gabriel Romanelli revealed the details of his last phone call with the Pope, who died on Monday.
Follow the latest: Tribute Pour for Francis Pope
“This is a very sad day for us,” Father Romanelli told Sky News.
“We lost him. At the same time, we lost him in Easter – for us as Christians, it was a good sign, a beautiful sign of God’s grace.”
Father Romanelli said the last whale called on Saturday and “told us ‘Thank you … for everything we made here’.”.
“At the same time, he asked [for] prayer and give blessings to everyone, to the Christian community and for all citizens Gaza“He added.
He said Francis “was a very humble servant of God”.
“All the time he told us, for this period – more than one and a half years, and he called every day, every day – he asked to help people, to protect children,” Father Romanelli added.
Pastor Gabriel Romanelli talked about Pope’s last call to his church community on Saturday
‘Broken hearted’
Paying tribute to Pope Francis, George Antone, Head of the Emergency Committee at the Sacred Family Church, told the Reuters news agency: “We lost a saint who taught us every day how to be brave, how to keep patient and stay strong.
“We lost a man who fought every day in all directions to protect his small herd.
“We were heartbroken because of the death of Pope Francis, but we knew that he left the church that cared for us and who knew us with our names – each of us.
“He used to tell each of them: I’m with you, don’t be afraid.”
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Hamas militants attacked South Israel on October 7, 2023, killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostage hostage.
Since then, the Gaza Ministry of Health managed by Hamas said that more than 50,000 people had been killed. The Ministry of Health does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its calculations.
Throughout the war, the Pope has condemned the Hamas and Israeli attacks and called for an immediate ceasefire and for a two -state solution.
In 2023, Francis condemned The murder of two Palestinian Christian womenAnd in November calling for an investigation Has Israel has carried out “genocide” In Gaza.
Israel strongly denied the claim that they had committed war crimes in Gaza, and said it needed strict steps to avoid civilian casualties by warning people to evacuate the regions in which they operate.
In his last public message on Easter Sunday, Francis repeated the previous call for a ceasefire immediately in Gaza and for the release of all Israeli hostages.
