Where is God in the midst of tragedy? A bishop responds following Venezuela earthquakes
Auxiliary Bishop Carlos Márquez of Caracas reflects on the mystery of suffering after the June 24 earthquakes in Venezuela. He explains that natural disasters are part of biological law and human misuse of freedom, not divine punishment. Márquez emphasizes that Christ promises companionship amid pain, not the elimination of suffering. He encourages hope, sacraments, and the intercession of saints to help the faithful cope with tragedy.
2 months ago
The June 24, 2026 earthquakes that devastated large parts of Venezuela left thousands dead, tens of thousands injured, and many churches and homes reduced to rubble. Auxiliary Bishop Carlos Márquez of Caracas answered the flood of questions about God’s presence in such tragedy, emphasizing that suffering is not a divine punishment but a consequence of natural law, human misuse of freedom, and the ongoing “groaning” of creation that will be healed in Christ. He reminded the faithful that Christ promises to remain with them, offering the sacraments, the intercession of saints, and a hope that transcends death, urging Venezuelans to unite in faith, charity, and resilient action. The official death toll stands at 4,829, with many more affected. 1 2
The tremors on June 24 caused widespread destruction, collapsing buildings that had often been erected on unsuitable ground or without proper safety standards. Bishop Márquez linked this “imprudence” to human freedom, noting that while natural laws cannot be escaped, human choices can exacerbate the impact of such events. 1
He also cited St. Paul’s description of creation “groaning” (Rom 8:22‑39) to explain that the material world is subject to pain and transformation until it is fully restored in the eschaton. 2
Márquez stressed that Christ never promised a life free from hardship. Instead, He assured believers that He will not abandon them: “I will be with you until the end of the world.” The bishop said this promise is lived out through the Church’s sacraments, the Word, and the communion of saints, which help the faithful endure and heal. 1
Despite the devastation, survivors are expressing gratitude for life and a resolve to honor those lost. Márquez urged Venezuelans to follow the example of saintly compatriots, to face adversity without demanding “why,” and to work toward a safer, more hopeful future. He invoked John Paul II’s 1996 words encouraging imagination, generosity, and trust in God. 2
The disaster’s official death toll is 4,829, with injuries and displacement affecting tens of thousands. Relief efforts are coordinated by the local Church and international Catholic agencies, emphasizing both immediate aid and long‑term rebuilding. 1*
How does the Catholic Church explain divine presence amid natural suffering?
The Catholic Church teaches that God’s presence is real even when nature is wounded by suffering—yet that presence does not remove the mystery of suffering. Rather, God permits evil, illuminates its meaning through Christ’s Cross and Resurrection, and brings good from it in ways fully understood in eternal life.
The Catechism states that the fact that God permits physical (and moral) evil “is a mystery” illuminated by Jesus Christ. It adds that faith provides certainty: God would not permit an evil unless he could bring about a good from that evil—a good we will understand fully only in eternal life.
The Catholic Encyclopedia on Divine Providence similarly frames Providence as extending to all and regulating God’s dealings with mankind, emphasizing that believers should “glory in tribulation,” since it strengthens patience and hope—while God’s purposes are beneficent, free, and unmerited.
In Romans 8, the Church reads a key guarantee of divine presence: hardship, distress, persecution, even “the sword” cannot separate believers from “the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Thomas Aquinas’ commentary helps clarify what “presence amid suffering” means here: the believer’s suffering does not mean God has condemned or abandoned them—Christ, who died and rose and now intercedes, prevents condemnation rather than bringing it.
Saint John Paul II teaches that to grasp the “why” of suffering, one must look to the revelation of divine love in Christ. Christ “causes us to enter into the mystery” and supplies the answer given by God to man—specifically “in the Cross of Jesus Christ.”
He also explains how this presence works concretely: Christ transforms suffering from within. It is Christ himself who acts “at the heart of human sufferings through his Spirit of truth” and “consoling Spirit,” revealing to the suffering person a place “close to himself.”
John Paul II emphasizes that Christ does not merely provide an abstract explanation of suffering’s “reasons.” Rather, the answer is heard as a person becomes a sharer in the sufferings of Christ, gradually taking up their own cross and spiritually uniting it to Christ’s.
This is why Catholic doctrine can say both things at once:
The Catechism addresses how divine presence appears in the medical-religious realm: Christ “did not heal all the sick.” His healings were signs of the Kingdom’s coming, announcing a “more radical healing: the victory over sin and death.”
In other words, the Church does not interpret divine presence as guaranteeing the removal of every physical pain in this life. Instead, it interprets suffering through Christ, who “gave… new meaning” to it—so that suffering can configure the person to Christ’s redemptive Passion.
Romans 8 presents the cosmos and the human person as sharing in a “groaning” that is not meaningless. Creation is described as “groaning in labor pains,” and believers also “groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.”
The Catechism echoes this, presenting Revelation’s affirmation of the “common destiny of the material world and man,” and explicitly citing that “the whole creation has been groaning… in hope.”
John Chrysostom stresses that Romans 8:28 (“all things work together for good”) includes even what seems painful: God is able to “change all these things into the opposite,” demonstrating His power by turning apparently painful realities into what becomes helpful.
Pope Pius X similarly applies this to the Church’s life amid tribulations: even from evils, God brings good, making “the triumph” of His work more splendid through obstacles—even as Christ’s suffering remains the pattern for the Church’s militant existence “through many tribulations.”
Romans 8 also teaches that divine presence is not only “out there” but actively inward: the Spirit “helps us in our weakness,” interceding with “sighs too deep for words.”
So, amid natural suffering—when language fails—the Church reads God’s nearness as the Spirit’s intercession, carrying the person when human prayer is inadequate.
John Paul II describes suffering as acquiring a salvific dimension when united to Christ: Christ’s Spirit brings people to a “place close to himself,” and suffering—permeated by the spirit of Christ’s sacrifice—becomes a special support for the world’s salvation.
The Catholic explanation of divine presence amid natural suffering is not that suffering is good in itself, but that God permits it within a providential mystery, illuminates it through Christ’s Cross, and unites it to redemption—so that, even when creation groans, nothing can finally separate the believer from God’s love in Christ.