Catholic Nun Reveals Suffering of Christians in Gaza saying All Want "Peace! It's very hard to live in war all the time. We miss the voices that really work for peace. "
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The Catholic Nun, named Sister Nabila Saleh, of the Rosary Sisters has returned from Gaza to Italy. She gave a talk in Milan, and spoke about the six months of brutality she experienced in Gaza. The war came on suddenly, with violence greater than in the past, which “removed the veil of human rights". She explained that Christians too are among the victims. The Rosary Sisters' school was also destroyed. "Reaching out to children who have only experienced war is a challenge," especially since many have developed emotional issues, she explained.
WATCH Story of Sr. Nabila at the 4:55 Mark on the VIDEO below:
Faith and hope "have never failed us, ” even in the "terrible days" when the Israeli army "was bombing near us", near the Holy Family parish, with people from the community "wounded by shrapnel" who could not be treated "because of a lack of hospitals and medicines, ” said Sister Nabila, speaking to AsiaNews.
The Egyptian-born religious experienced first-hand the conflict. She escaped from the territory with a group of parishioners only in early April after experiencing terrible moments, like the attack on Saint Porphyry Greek Orthodox Church.
“We immediately ran to see how they were doing, " she said, "because, as Christians, we all know each other." And again, when Israeli snipers "killed two women in front of our eyes."
Unlike other wars in Gaza, which took place over a shorter period, and with less intensity, this time "it came suddenly, with no forewarning, and no place that could be considered safe. This time, " the nun explained, "they hit everywhere. "
Israeli leaders "knew that we Christians had found shelter inside the churches; it was a shock" to realise that we were not immune to the attacks, to the bombs.
“We didn't think it would happen, like when they entered Zeitoun, the neighbourhood where the Latin parish church is located, with tanks and, behind them, snipers deliberately shooting. "
Sister Nabila Saleh lived in Gaza for 13 years and experienced first-hand the violence of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, although the intensity of the war triggered by the October 7th is unparalleled.
She spent more than six months as a refugee in the Catholic Church of the Holy Family together with more than 650 displaced Christians, under bombs, in desperate humanitarian conditions, taking care of the most vulnerable.
Yesterday evening she recounted her experience at the PIME Center in Milan, together with other sisters, including Sister Bertilla Murj and Sister Martina Bader, from Jordan, who have worked in Gaza for a long period.
The “faith" shown by everybody was "the source of our hope. During the bombings we went to church and prayed the rosary, with people shouting, crying, and praying, " not knowing if they would survive.
“For me, those were very hard months, ” the nun said. But she learnt that "nothing in the world is worth it, only the Lord. Not riches, things of which nothing remains. I tried to represent the faith that comes from the Lord, to have hope, even if I was afraid and cried. ”
Children are the first to suffer, something Sister Nabila knows too well. Her order established a school in Gaza, appreciated by the whole community.
“Children have lived through five wars in just a few years, bearing the brunt. Just think of a 10-year-old boy who has only known violence. "
The Rosary Sisters' own school suffered serious bombing damage; at least three million dollars will be needed just to fix the walls. Three teachers and several students are among the nearly 37,000 casualties of the war.
“At the start, only the King of Jordan sent some aid from the sky and our young people risked their lives to recover it. "
The visit of Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa and the return of the parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli in mid-May were among the few moments of joy and consolation. But "the deputy parish priest, Father Yousef Asad, did a great job. "
When asked what the people of Gaza want now, Sister Nabila says immediately: "Peace! It's very hard to live in war all the time. We miss the voices that really work for peace. "
Sister Nabila said, Pope Francis "always calls for it, but the powerful have done nothing about it. All Gazans say that, with this war, the veil of human rights has fallen. Both peoples have the right to live in peace. ”
Hopefully, “this war will close the book on all wars..."Gazans today "think about how to stay alive tomorrow, how to feed their children. ”
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