The final call lasted 30 seconds. Just enough time to say hello and ask if everyone was okay. But for Gaza’s tiny Christian population, the phone call from Pope Francis was a ray of hope that shone through the horrors of war.

For months, the pontiff spoke by telephone almost every night with people sheltering in a Catholic church in the battered enclave. “The evenings became known as the pope’s time,” a priest in Gaza said.

Members of Gaza's tiny Christian community said they were "heartbroken" on Monday at the death of Pope Francis, who campaigned for peace for the devastated enclave and spoke to them on the phone every evening throughout the war.