Church sources in Venezuela believe that a quarter of a million people may have been left homeless as a result of the devastating earthquakes which hit the country on 24 June.
Initial reports put the death toll in the hundreds, but that has now risen to 1,700, with thousands more unaccounted for.
The UN estimates that 12,000 people have been displaced by the disaster, with official Venezuelan figures saying the number is over 15,000. According to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), however, their sources on their grounds say the figure could be as high as 250,000.
Whatever the real figure, there is no doubt that suffering and destruction has been widespread.
One priest told ACN, “Before giving the sacrament of the sick to a mother, I asked her how she felt. She smiled, and answered: ‘I’m alive,’ and then added: ‘everything is going to be all right. I have just had both my legs amputated, but we are going to move forward.’
“Another mother asked me, before I gave her the sacrament: ‘Pray for my little children, who died.’ And a young girl, in tears, told me that she had lost her parents, her grandparents and her siblings.”
Archbishop Raúl Biord of Caracas told ACN that following the disaster it was important for the Church to listen to survivors and do what it could to provide practical aid to rebuild lives.
In an indication of how challenging the situation is on the ground, Archbishop Biord said, “We know of many families that had to remove their dead from the rubble themselves.”
ACN itself has provided €100,000 to support the Catholic Church’s aid and reconstruction efforts in the country.
One of the worst hit areas was La Guaira, home to a Catholic seminary. Archbishop Biord said, “The seminarians were in the building when the earth shook. There were some lightly wounded, but nobody was killed and both the seminarians and their formators were able to leave.
“We can say that it was a miracle. However, the building is inaccessible, it cannot be used and it was heavily damaged. They lost everything, even their clothes and shoes … Nothing was left.”
Archbishop Biord said that caring for survivors would be a top priority.
“We have lost so much. We need to care for those who survived. Priests and religious, as well as Caritas volunteers and pastoral agents must tend to the needs of thousands of people who have been badly traumatised," he said.
"This will be one of the biggest priorities for the diocese over the coming months, to support and train those who will be on the front lines of this pastoral accompaniment.”
