The first time he spoke to Pope Francis during the pontiff’s nightly calls to the Holy Family Catholic church in Gaza City, the congregant George Antone, 44, found himself at a loss for words.
It was October 2023, a few weeks after Hamas ignited a devastating war in the Gaza Strip by attacking Israel. The Palestinian territory’s tiny Christian community had taken shelter in the strip’s three churches, but that didn’t mean they were safe. An Israeli airstrike had just hit the Greek Orthodox church, killing 18 people; soon, snipers and bombs would also kill civilians at the Holy Family.
