Pizzaballa called for an immediate ceasefire.
By Catholics for Catholics | July 18, 2025
After a harrowing Israeli attack that left at least three dead at Gaza’s only Catholic Church, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III visited the area, offering spiritual and humanitarian aid.
Pizzaballa and Theophilos III headed a clerical delegation into Gaza to “offer condolences and solidarity” with both Christian and non-Christian families residing at the Holy Family Church compound, one day after shrapnel from an Israeli military attack fatally wounded three people and injured several others on the premises, according to Catholic News Agency (CNA).
Holy Family church has provided shelter to hundreds of refugees since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October 2023. The sector includes the church, a school, a convent, a multipurpose center, and a building for the Missionaries of Charity.
At the time of the Israeli strike, about 600 people were living in the compound of Gaza’s only Catholic church. Most of the residents are Orthodox Christians, Protestants, and Catholics, but there are also more than 50 Muslim children with disabilities living there with their families.
The Latin Patriarchate said he “remains steadfast” in its commitment to the Holy Family Church community and the entire population of Gaza.
According to the Latin Patriarchate, Pizzaballa will continue to “personally assess the humanitarian and pastoral needs of the community to help guide the Church’s continued presence and response.”
“Cardinal Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch, visited the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza this morning.
The Patriarchs visited those taking refuge in the Catholic and Orthodox churches in Gaza and nearby medical centers,… pic.twitter.com/9isNGKWLuN
— Catholics for Catholics 🇺🇲 (@CforCatholics) July 18, 2025
According to CNA, in coordination with humanitarian partners, the delegation was able to deliver “hundreds of tons of food supplies as well as first-aid kits and urgently needed medical equipment” to refugees and ensure the evacuation and transportation of injured individuals to medical facilities outside Gaza.
After their entrance into Gaza, Pope Leo XIV called Pizzaballa to “offer his support, closeness, and prayers” for the ecclesiastical delegation and the people left shaken by the Israeli attack.
In the meantime, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, the ecumenical body that brings together the main Christian churches in the Holy Land, on Friday condemned the latest “atrocious attack perpetrated by the Israeli army.”
“We, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, call upon world leaders and United Nations agencies to work towards an immediate ceasefire in Gaza that leads to an end of this war,” the statement read.
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