Two Christian Women Killed in Gaza Strike, Small Community Holds Day of Prayer
An Israeli strike hit a residential building in Gaza City's Rimal neighborhood in the early hours of October 3, killing five people, including Maysa Khader Ibrahim Abu Daoud and her daughter Mary Hafez Michel Najjar, both members of Gaza's small Greek Orthodox community. The two were buried that same day at the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius. Father Gabriel Romanelli, parish priest of the Holy Family Church in Gaza, told Vatican News the attack revived what he called the worst moments of the war, adding that people in his parish are exhausted.
Pope Leo XIV wrote to Romanelli saying he had been praying for the two women, their families, and the wider Gaza community. Gaza's Christian community, which has lost 62 members since the war began according to Romanelli, held a day of prayer on October 7, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, ending with Mass and a procession seeking what organizers called justice and peace between Palestine and Israel. Romanelli said his parish would continue its ministry regardless, telling Vatican News, "We will not stop."
