Junno Arocho Esteves | OSV News
The archbishop of Caracas called for prayers and solidarity after back-to-back earthquakes struck Venezuela, killing at least 188 people and injuring hundreds more.
“We ask God that we may all face this together, finding comfort in God, and in solidarity and charity,” Archbishop Raúl Biord Castillo said in a video posted on Instagram June 25.
According to The Associated Press, the twin earthquakes, which struck in the evening June 24, measured 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude and were the strongest to hit Venezuela in more than a century.
By late afternoon June 25, news reports said that more than 1,500 people were injured and another 200 were trapped in rubble.
Social media was flooded with images of the chaos and destruction that ensued, including a video showing terrified residents outside of a church that was swaying as the earthquake rocked the area.
As a massive search and rescue effort was underway and the full scale of the disaster began to emerge, Pope Leo XIV sent an initial emergency donation of 100,000 euros (US$115,000) through the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, Vatican News reported.
The Holy See said the aid, coordinated with the apostolic nuncio to Venezuela, Archbishop Alberto Ortega Martín, and Archbishop Biord “is only a first step, with further assistance to follow in response to the needs identified by the local Church.”
Archbishop Biord toured several churches in the capital following the devastating earthquakes. Standing in the rubble of San José de Ñaraulí Church, the archbishop said several churches in the archdiocese suffered damage, including the Cathedral of Caracas.
Despite the circumstances, Archbishop Biord said that what was important was the feeling of unity among people helping victims and those who have lost their homes.
“Our hearts are with the deceased — we pray for their eternal rest — and with those injured who are being rescued, as well as all the people who have lost loved ones. (This earthquake) was a very powerful natural phenomenon,” he said.
The archbishop of Caracas prayed that the people of Venezuela would find “comfort in God, and in solidarity and charity.”
“Amidst all of this — Christian and Catholic alike — we must all form a great network of solidarity to help those brothers and sisters who are suffering material losses,” he said. “We are deeply pained by the damage to our artistic heritage, but that can be recovered over time. But human life is what is most important.”
Several messages of support to Catholics in the country were published, including from the Mexican bishops’ conference.
In a tweet posted on X June 25, the Mexican bishops said they joined in prayer for the people of Venezuela, and asked God to “grant consolation to the afflicted, strength to those who serve, and swift recovery to the affected communities.”
“As a pilgrim Church in Latin America, we make our own the pain of our Venezuelan brothers and sisters and entrust them to the maternal protection of Our Lady of Coromoto,” the bishops said, referring to the patroness of Venezuela.
Spanish Archbishop Luis Argüello of Valladolid, president of the Spanish bishops’ conference, published a letter June 25 on behalf of the country’s bishops expressing their “deepest fraternal closeness in these moments of great sorrow.”
“We join you in prayer for the eternal rest of the deceased. We implore divine comfort for their families and a swift recovery for the hundreds of injured and displaced people who have lost their homes and livelihoods,” Archbishop Argüello wrote in the letter, which was addressed to Bishop Jesús González de Zárate, president of the Venezuelan bishops’ conference.
“We also pray that the Lord will strengthen and enlighten the authorities, emergency teams, healthcare workers, and volunteers who are working tirelessly in rescue and relief efforts,” he added.
The U.S. Catholic bishops also expressed their solidarity and concern for Venezuelans amid the disaster.
“As rescue efforts are underway, I urge the international community to mobilize in support of the Venezuelan people, and to send the necessary humanitarian assistance to alleviate their suffering,” said Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace.
He noted that “Catholic Relief Services, the international relief agency of the Church in the United States, and its partner Caritas Venezuela, are already responding and assessing needs at this early stage.”
“We understand the U.S. government is readying an initial response and appreciate their partnership in responding to this natural disaster,” said Bishop Zaidan, who heads the St. Louis-based Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles.
He added, “Let us all join in prayer that Our Lady of Coromoto, patroness of Venezuela, will comfort and protect her children and that compassionate international assistance will arrive swiftly.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a post on X, said: “The United States extends our deepest condolences to the people of Venezuela following the devastating earthquakes. Our hearts are with all those who have lost loved ones, those injured, and the courageous rescue workers working tirelessly in the aftermath.”
Rubio said the State Department “is immediately deploying search and rescue teams, medical resources, and humanitarian assistance to Venezuela.”
In Florida, Deacon Gustavo Adolfo Roversi, a Miami businessman and newly ordained member of the local clergy, is among the many Venezuelans living in the United States anxiously awaiting more information on the quakes’ impact on communities in their home country.
“As a matter of fact my wife happens to be (there now) — she is fine, thank God,” Deacon Roversi told the Florida Catholic, the news outlet of the Miami Archdiocese. “I have a family member, a first cousin, who is still unaccounted for. We pray it is because the phone system is down.”
A native of Valencia, Venezuela, which is among the many cities and towns also impacted by the earthquakes, Deacon Roversi went to college at the University of Kansas in the 1980s before returning to South America to help run the family paper products manufacturing business. They later expanded the business to Florida in the late 1990s
“I know that there are fatalities, but still unsure about the numbers,” the deacon added. “So far it is in the hundreds. I understand Colombia just sent rescue crews.”
