Gaza Christians inherit the death of Pope Francis: It has always turned us

The members of the small Christian community in Gaza said they were “broken heart” on Monday (21) with the death of Pope Francis.

The Pope carried a campaign for peace in destroyed lands and spoke to them on the phone every night during the war.

Throughout the Middle East, the Palestinian Christians, Lebanese and Syrians, both Catholics and Orthodox, praised Francis’s ongoing participation with them as a source of rest at a time when their societies faced wars, disasters, difficulties and persecution.

“We have lost a saint who taught every day as brave, and how to maintain patience and stay strong. We have lost a fighting man every day in all directions to protect his small herd,” George Anton, 44, commented the head of the Emergency Committee at the Sagrarada Familia Church in Gaza, to Reuters.

Francisco called the church after hours of the war in GazaIn October 2023, Anton said, the beginning of what the Vatican News service describes as a night routine throughout the war. Anton said: He has spoken not only to the priest, but to all the other present.

“We were saddened by Pope Francis’s death, but we know that he is leaving behind a church that cares about us and knows us by name-Mina,” said Anton, referring to the Gaza Christians, who add hundreds.

“He used to say to everyone: I am with you, don’t be afraid.”

Francisco said last Saturday night (19).

Romanti said: “He said he was praying for us, and we gave us and thanked us for our prayers.”

the next day , In the last general statement of EasterFrancis for peace appeared in Gaza, where the parties asked the conflict “to declare a ceasefire, put the hostages and help hungry people who aspire to the future of peace.”

Pope Francis defends peace

In the Church of the Holy grave in Jerusalem, where many Christians believe that Jesus was crucified, buried and revived, the Latin community, Father Stephen Milovic, said that Francis defended peace.

He said: “We hope that peace will come soon to this land and that the next Pope can help in obtaining peace in Jerusalem and all over the world.”

In Lebanon, where the war between Israel and Hezbollah caused many victims and comprehensive damage last year, and millions of people were expelled from their homes, members of the Maronite Catholic community commented on Francis’s repeated references to the current situation.

“He is a saint for us because he carried Lebanon and the Middle East in his heart, especially in the recent period of the war.”

“We have always felt that he was very involved and mobilized all Catholic funds and funds to help Lebanon during the crises we went through,” said Mary Joe Depp, who works for a social institution in Lebanon.

“He was a rebel and I really claim to be the next Pope,” he added.

Pope flights to the Middle East

Francisco made repeated trips to the Middle East, including Iraq in 2021, when he learned that two men of bombs tried to kill him in Mosul, a global city where the Islamic Armedial Community announced a succession from 2014 to 2017.

He visited the ruins of four churches that destroyed and made a call for peace.

In Syria, the head of the antiba nicolas said he was celebrating a mass in the historical church in Zwan, Damascus, when he received a paper with the news.

Nicholas said: “He used to say” dear Syria “every time he talks about Syria. He appealed to all international organizations to support Syria, the Christian presence and the church in Syria during the recent years.”

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