Patriarchs Theophilos, Pizzaballa Make Joint Visit to Gaza
The Orthodox and Catholic hierarchs spent time with the faithful following Thursday's strike on a Catholic church by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
GAZA — This morning, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem and Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa made a joint visit to Gaza to be with their respective faith communities following the Israeli strike on the Holy Family Catholic Church on Thursday.
The shelling resulted in the death of three Orthodox Christians and injured several more, including the Catholic parish priest. The visit by the hierarchs started at the parish of the Holy Family Catholic Church and ended at the Church of St. Porphyrios, the site of yesterday's funeral for the Orthodox Christians who were killed.
A young boy hugs His Beatitude upon his arrival. Source: Jerusalem Patriarchate
A release from the Jerusalem Patriarchate states that the visit comes in the wake of "repeated assaults on Christian holy sites in Gaza," and goes on to list several:
- The bombing of the Baptist hospital on Oct. 17, 2023
- The strike on St. Porphyrios Orthodox Church on Oct. 19, 2023
- The gunfire attack on worshippers at the Church of the Holy Family on Dec. 16, 2023
- Most recently, the Israeli strike on the very same church on July 16, 2025.
The release also states:
"It must be noted that this attack occurred less than 48 hours after Their Beatitudes Patriarch Theophilos III and Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, together with the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Adolfo Tito Yllana, and accompanied by a high-level delegation of church leaders in Jerusalem, visited the Christian town of Taybeh in the West Bank, east of Ramallah. The visit was in response to a series of criminal attacks carried out by Israeli settler militias under the protection of the Israeli army, including the desecration of the town's Christian cemetery and historic church."
Patriarch Theophilos once again called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and reaffirmed that the Orthodox Church remains committed to "its sacred mission to be present, spiritually and humanely, in times of war."
“Where suffering abounds, so too must our responsibility. We do not come from afar; we are of this land, of its sorrows, of its people, and of its perseverance. The Church is here to accompany, to heal, and to rekindle hope in hearts crushed beneath the weight of this ongoing devastating atrocity.”
His Eminence Archbishop Alexios of Tiberias greets Patriarch Theophilos with tears. Source: St. Porphyrios Orthodox Church
Previously, UOJ reported that sources close to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem believe the Israeli strike on the Holy Family Catholic Church on Thursday morning "could be a deliberate act of retaliation after Christian leaders recently condemned Israeli settler attacks on a West Bank Christian town."
