The Latin Patriarchate School of Jerusalem in Gaza has reopened its doors for the 2026-2027 academic year after nearly three years of educational interruption. A total of 1,005 students, from early childhood education through the final year of secondary school, have returned to the classrooms of what is currently, according to the Patriarchate, the only operational Christian educational institution in Gaza.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem announced the reopening on September 22, which allows the full recovery of the educational mission of facilities that during the most difficult moments of the war also served to care for displaced children. For the new academic year, 77 teachers have returned to their positions.
The first day left an image that the parish priest of the Holy Family in Gaza, Father Gabriel Romanelli, summarized as follows: “Today we saw tears of joy in the eyes of the children and parents, seeing their children at school after three years.”
From wartime shelter to school once again
Education has been one of the priorities maintained by the Latin Patriarchate and by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, during the years of war.
Even during the most difficult moments, the Holy Family parish continued providing education to displaced children who remained sheltered in its facilities. The situation began to change during the spring of 2026, when some families were able to return to their homes or find other accommodation.
“As some returned to their homes or found other accommodations in the spring of 2026, we were able to welcome more students,” explained Romanelli.
Now, facilities that during the war were focused on emergency response are recovering one of their ordinary functions. “This place, which welcomed displaced people during the war, today returns to its educational mission. We hope this space will be a place where love, healing, and mutual respect can grow among community members,” the priest noted.
The reopening has also included the construction of a new building for the kindergarten, a project made possible thanks to the support of donors and collaborators of the Patriarchate.
The only functioning Christian educational institution in Gaza
The return to the classrooms holds particular significance for the continuity of the Christian presence in Gaza. The Patriarchate considers schools a fundamental part of its pastoral mission and, despite the consequences of the war, has worked to restore educational activity in the Strip.
The school operates under the supervision of Father Romanelli and thanks to the joint work of the local Patriarchate team in Gaza and the supervisory team based in Jerusalem. The center serves children and young people from the entire local community, not only Christian families.
Material difficulties, however, continue. The school faces shortages of furniture, stationery, and other basic educational resources.
These shortages are compounded by the consequences that the years of war have left on students and teachers. Therefore, alongside regular subjects, the center is preparing extracurricular activities aimed at psychological support for those returning after years of interruption.
For this academic year, 77 teachers have been able to return to their positions across the different educational stages.
Pizzaballa: “Without offering education to children, how can there be hope?”
Cardinal Pizzaballa has repeatedly defended the need to restore education during his pastoral visits to Gaza.
“Without offering education to children, how can there be hope?” the Patriarch has insisted.
The reopening responds precisely to that concern. For the Patriarchate, reconstruction does not consist solely of recovering buildings and infrastructure, but also of returning to children the possibility of studying and maintaining the works through which the Church serves the population.
The school represents one of those works. More than a thousand children and young people have regained a stable educational space while the community attempts to rebuild its life after nearly three years of war.
The Christian presence remains in Gaza
The reopening also constitutes a new step in the Church’s permanence in a territory where the Christian community has gone through particularly difficult years.
During the war, the Holy Family parish maintained its pastoral and assistance activities while its facilities sheltered displaced people. At the same time, within its possibilities, it continued educating the children who remained sheltered there.
Now, part of that effort is beginning to move from emergency response to reconstruction. The place that during the war welcomed displaced families is once again filling with students and teachers.
The Latin Patriarchate has indicated that it will continue working to ensure that the Church remains alongside the community, offering “not only spiritual witness, but also practical care, education, and service.”
After nearly three years of educational interruption, that presence has from this week a very concrete expression: 1,005 students have returned to their classrooms and 77 teachers have returned to teaching. For Romanelli, the tears of joy from the children and their parents on the first day showed what it means to recover something as ordinary—and for years impossible—as going back to school.