By Marinella Bandini, Catholic News Agency, Oct. 25, 2023
Born and raised in Italy, Marinella Bandini has been a professional journalist since 2008. She works for several news agencies and online newspapers in the Catholic space. Currently based in Jerusalem, she collaborates with the Custody of the Holy Land.
Jerusalem, Oct 25, 2023 / 07:00 am – Catholic couple Hussam Abu Sini and Chiara Pezzulich hadn’t planned to baptize their baby girl so soon, but the war between Israel and Hamas has changed everything.
The family lives in Haifa, 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) from Lebanon. Hussam, an Arab-Israeli, was born in Nazareth and studied medicine in Italy, where he met his wife. They have two young children. On Thursday, Oct. 19, they baptized their second daughter, Marta, who is 4 months old.
“We are Catholics, and from the beginning, we knew we wanted to baptize our daughter, but the war hastened everything,” Abu Sini told CNA. “We baptized our first child, Giovanni, during the pandemic. This time, we hoped to be all together.” …