Roman Catholic Church in Gaza damaged by airstrike, priest injured
Holy Family Church in Gaza after the airstrike, July 16, 2025. Photo: Orthodoxia News Agency
On July 16, 2025, an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza Strip damaged the Holy Family Church, which belongs to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, a structure of the Roman Catholic Church. This was stated in an official Patriarchate communiqué released on July 17.
According to the statement, several people were injured in the attack, including the parish priest, Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, a Roman Catholic clergyman. While injuries were reported, no fatalities had been confirmed at the time of publication. The church building sustained significant damage.
The Holy Family Church is one of the few places in Gaza that had been providing shelter to civilians and internally displaced persons. Previously, the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius, which played a similar humanitarian role, was also damaged during hostilities.
The photo shows the press release dated July 17, 2025, reporting the damage to the Holy Family Church in Gaza caused by the airstrike
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem expressed deep concern over the situation and called for prayers for the wounded and for the restoration of peace. Patriarchate representatives also promised to release further details once officially confirmed.
As previously reported by the UOJ, a Russian airstrike earlier destroyed a UOC church in Bytytsia, Sumy region.
Read also
OCU explains why beggars are driven away from St. Michael’s Cathedral
A cleric of Dumenko’s structure admitted that beggars are not tolerated at the OCU’s main monastery because of their “high incomes” and the desire not to damage the site’s image before foreign tourists.
UOC Chancellor: Venerable Anthony founded a monastery, not a reserve
Metropolitan Anthony said that the attempt to turn the Lavra into a state preserve is, in essence, an attempt to lock living Orthodoxy behind a door.
Dumenko discusses countering hostile influence in spiritual life with PO head
The heads of the OCU and the Presidential Office touched on state-church relations and “spiritual security” in wartime.
Albanian Primate speaks about ways to resolve OCU problem
Archbishop John is convinced: disagreements between Moscow and Constantinople can only be overcome through love and dialogue, but not through choosing "sides".
National Memory Institute and SBU open exhibition on UGCC liquidation
An exhibition on the repression of the Uniates has opened in the capital, while state officials search for historical parallels with the present day.
OCU "priest" “allows” parishioners to use priest’s cassock for sex games
Ruslan Usmedinsky said that using a priest’s cassock as a prop for role-playing games can strengthen relationships between couples.