When Even the Church Is Not Spared: A Reflection on the Holy Family Church Bombing in Gaza

On July 17, 2025, the only Catholic Church in Gaza—the Holy Family Church—was struck by an Israeli artillery shell. Three civilians were killed. Many more, including Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, were injured. The place where the most vulnerable sought refuge—elderly men and women, people with disabilities, children—became a battlefield. And I can’t help but ask:

What is this war really for now? Who is still being protected—and who is being silenced, erased, or sacrificed?

⚔️ From Defense to Disillusionment

I was among those who tried to understand. I defended Israel’s right to respond to Hamas after the horrifying attacks of October 2023. I thought their airstrikes against Iranian nuclear threats were justified. I believed, perhaps naively, that Israel—despite the politics—remained a nation grounded in moral clarity, defending its people from those who openly vowed to annihilate them.

But this? This is different.

This is not a strike against militants or military targets.This is not a calculated defense strategy.

This is a direct hit on a Catholic sanctuary, filled with noncombatants—innocent people hiding under the altar of God, clinging to hope, seeking peace.

🙏 Sacred Spaces Are Meant to Be Untouchable

Even in the most brutal wars in history, sacred spaces—churches, mosques, temples—were often spared. Not because they were structurally important, but because they stood as symbols of something above politics. Something sacred.

In Catholicism, the Church is not just a building—it is a shelter, a mother, a home. When bombs fall on a church sheltering the sick and elderly, you don’t just question military decisions. You question the soul of the war itself.

🕯️ Pope Leo XIV has condemned the attack. So have world leaders.

But what comes next? An internal investigation? A press statement? Another day of shelling? Another week of headlines and then silence?

Is this how the world ends now—not with a bang, but with routine outrage?

🧠 Are We Being Played?

This is where it becomes uncomfortable to reflect.Because now, I can’t help but wonder:Are we being played?

Are we, the Christian world, being used for political leverage only to be discarded when inconvenient?

Israel has long enjoyed support from Christian nations, not just politically but theologically. Many evangelicals see Israel’s return as prophetically significant. Many Catholics, including myself, sympathize with Israel's existential threats. But the attack on a Catholic Church—during peace talks no less—feels like a betrayal of that goodwill. And I won’t pretend otherwise.

Is this about justice, or is it now about unchecked power?

💔 When Defending Becomes Destroying

I want to be very clear: Hamas is a terrorist group. Their tactics are brutal and evil. But that does not mean Israel is above criticism. In fact, if they are to represent the values of justice, democracy, and civilization that they claim, they must be held to a higher standard, not a lower one.

Because when you start bombing churches, you stop defending—and start destroying.

✝️ “They Know Not What They Do”?

As a Catholic, I cling to the words of Christ on the cross:

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

But this time, I’m not sure that applies.

Because in this case… they did know. They were told civilians were sheltering in that compound. They knew the Holy Family Church was there. The priest had been in daily contact with the Vatican. This was not hidden.

So what are we supposed to think now?

🔍 Demanding Truth, Not Just Apologies

We, as Christians, are called to be peacemakers. But we are also called to be truth-tellers. Silence in the face of evil is complicity. What happened in Gaza demands more than diplomatic apologies. It demands a moral reckoning. Not only from Israel but also from us—its long-time allies and defenders.

We must no longer treat support for Israel as a blank check, nor condemn those who ask honest questions as traitors or bigots.

When the Body of Christ is literally bleeding beneath a collapsed Catholic church, we are past the point of political correctness.

✝️ Final Reflection: The Cross Still Stands

The irony is haunting: a Catholic Church bombed by one of the most militarily sophisticated nations on earth—and yet, amid the rubble, reports say the crucifix still stands.

And perhaps that’s where I’ll end.

Because even when nations fail, even when religious buildings are leveled, and even when our trust is shaken—the Cross of Christ still stands.

And we are called to stand with it. Not with governments. Not with ideologies. But with truth. With peace. With the wounded. With the Church.

Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.

Let not the innocent die in vain.

Let the world awaken before it's too late.