Catholic leaders plead for aid after massive earthquakes hit Venezuela
"We urgently need the help of the world."
The people of Venezuela are urgently in need of assistance, Catholic leaders said, after the northern region of the country was hit by a pair of earthquakes – the strongest in the country’s history.
While there is no official death toll almost 24 hours after the earthquakes, there are almost 50,000 people missing and dozens of residential buildings destroyed.
Northern Venezuela was struck by two back-to-back earthquakes around 6 p.m. on June 24, one measuring 7.2 and another 7.5 on the Richter scale.
Several videos circulated on social media showed residential buildings, offices, and hotels that were completely destroyed by the earthquake in the capital city of Caracas and other cities, including La Guaira.
The Venezuelan government has confirmed that at least 164 people have died in the earthquakes, with more than 1,000 injured. However, a website set up by Venezuelan opposition activists to help families find missing loved ones has logged some 48,000 missing-person reports, leading many to fear that the death toll could reach much higher as rescue efforts continue.
The papal almoner’s office quickly moved to donate 100,000 euros for humanitarian efforts to the Venezuelan bishops, in what papal almoner Archbishop Luis Marín de San Martín, OSA, described to The Pillar as “an initial urgent [measure of] help.”
“We’re in contact with the nunciature, we’ll try to respond to concrete needs,” Marín told The Pillar.
Archbishop Raúl Biord of Caracas told Vatican News that several parishes in the cities opened their doors to people who lost their homes so that they could spend the night in the parish churches.
Caritas Venezuela, the humanitarian arm of the Venezuelan bishops’ conference, published a June 25 statement saying that “Caritas in each affected diocese are right now gathering information and evaluating damage, and they’re constantly sending this information to Caritas Venezuela.”
“Amid adversity, we’re not alone. We’ve received… numerous messages of solidarity and prayer from Caritas agencies in Latin America and throughout the world… This reminds us that the Universal Church walks with the Venezuelan people during this time of suffering.”
Caritas Venezuela announced that the national headquarters of the Venezuelan bishops’ conference would serve as a collection center for donations of drinkable water, non-perishable food, and essential medicines, while several diocesan Caritas would also establish local collection centers.
The statement also said that the “national and international bank accounts of Caritas de Venezuela are available to receive monetary donations, which will be used to help address the needs that our technical teams on the ground will be identifying with greater precision in the coming days, as the damage assessment progresses.”
The statement concluded by adding: “we pray for so many brothers and sisters who have lost their lives, their homes, and their possessions in these hours of trial… To them we say: you are not alone. The Church, through Caritas, walks at your side.”
“We call on all Venezuelans, both within the country and abroad, and we encourage the solidarity of all companies and people of goodwill, to come together with strength and generosity to support this network of solidarity, which today brings relief in moments of profound anguish. Every gesture of help, however small it may seem, becomes a tangible sign of God’s closeness to his people,” the statement ends.
Cardinal Baltazar Porras, Archbishop Emeritus of Caracas, said in a statement that “the faith that sustains us reminds us that we are never alone; in moments of greatest fragility, the presence of God becomes even stronger at our side.”
“This is a time for fraternity and solidarity, for caring for one another, for reaching out to our neighbors, for remaining calm, and for acting with the prudence indicated by the prevention and rescue authorities, whom we thank for their selfless work in these difficult hours,” the cardinal added.
Archbishop Víctor Hugo Basabe of Coro, one of the Venezuelan regime’s staunchest ecclesial critics, blamed the authorities for failing to prepare for the earthquake — a view echoed by many local observers, as initial rescue efforts were carried out largely by private citizens after emergency services were quickly overwhelmed by the scale of the destruction.
“They have spent 28 years mistreating, keeping on starvation wages and without supplies all emergency services, forced to work with almost nothing but their own hands and goodwill,” Basabe said on social media.
“We urgently need the help of the world. The years of destruction that we Venezuelans have endured over the past 25 years make it impossible for us to face the tragedy before us today with only the little we have left. International solidarity is urgently needed to save lives.”