The Catholic school is welcoming approximately 130 Christian students and children from across the community, with added support for those affected by war.
Holy Family School in Gaza reopened September 15, welcoming approximately 1,000 students after nearly three years of closure during the war.
The school is attached to Holy Family Parish, Gaza’s only Catholic church. Its return to classroom instruction offers children and teachers a renewed daily routine after prolonged disruption.
Approximately 130 Christian students are among those enrolled, according to George Akroush, director of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem’s Project Development Office. The enrollment figures come from church and aid officials. Aid to the Church in Need’s report.
Classrooms Return to Their Purpose
Father Gabriel Romanelli, Holy Family’s parish priest, told a visiting Aid to the Church in Need delegation that preparing the school required substantial work amid surrounding destruction.
He described efforts to create a clean environment where children could feel safe and regain some sense of normal life.
The building had also served as shelter. More than 450 displaced people had been living there during the conflict, according to the charity. The reopening followed the departure of many displaced families who returned to their homes.
Romanelli described the school’s return as “a light in the darkness”—a visible sign that the community could begin looking toward a future beyond immediate survival.
Christian Students Learning Together
Before the war, Gaza had five Christian schools: three Catholic, one Orthodox and one evangelical Protestant.
Akroush said the Christian students who had previously attended different schools would now study together at Holy Family. He described this as an opportunity to strengthen community and accompany families through the continuing difficulties.
The reopened school also serves children from the wider community. Its work places education and the needs of children at the center of the parish’s practical service. EWTN News reporting.
Support Beyond Academic Lessons
The school’s program now includes psychosocial support for students and teachers, Romanelli said.
He described profound changes among people who experienced the war, including teachers returning to work. The added support reflects the school’s recognition that reopening classrooms involves more than restarting lessons.
Children have also asked for activities after the school day because of the limited places available to them for recreation.
The priest’s account describes both hope and continuing hardship. The reopening is a meaningful development, but it does not establish that children’s needs have been resolved or that the surrounding conditions have returned to normal.
Why This Matters
Education gives families a way to plan beyond the next day. A functioning school provides a place to learn, reconnect with peers and begin rebuilding interrupted routines.
Holy Family’s reopening also documents the continuing presence of a small Christian community and the practical work of a parish serving its neighbors.
THRIVE! has also reported on the family of an imprisoned Syrian Christian leader, another account of Christians seeking stability and protection in the region.
THRIVE! Perspective
In Mark 10:14, Jesus welcomes children and rebukes those who would turn them away. Their dignity and need for care remain central even when war places competing demands on adults and institutions.
Matthew 5:16 describes good works that point people toward the Father. Teaching children, supporting traumatized families and sustaining a place of welcome can make Christian love visible.
The Church’s calling includes proclaiming Christ and serving neighbors with compassion. Christians elsewhere can remember these students and teachers in prayer and support trustworthy ministries helping families rebuild their lives.
