Archbishop calls for prayer, solidarity after twin earthquakes devastate Venezuela
Twin 7.2 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes struck Venezuela on June 24, killing over 150 people and injuring hundreds. Acting President Delcy Rodríguez reported 164 deaths and nearly 1,000 injuries as of June 25. Archbishop Raúl Biord Castillo urged prayers, solidarity, and unity, visiting damaged churches including the Cathedral of Caracas. Mexican bishops and Latin American bishops sent messages of support and prayer for Venezuelan victims. The disaster caused extensive damage to churches and prompted a national call for charity and aid.
3 months ago
The twin earthquakes that struck northern Venezuela on the evening of June 24 2026 caused massive loss of life, widespread injuries, and extensive damage to homes, churches, and infrastructure, prompting an urgent response from Catholic leaders and international partners. 1 2 4 5 6
The June 24 2026 earthquakes devastated Venezuela, leaving hundreds dead, thousands injured, and many more missing. Catholic leaders, led by Archbishop Biord, mobilized prayers, shelter, and material aid, while the broader Church—through Caritas, national bishops’ conferences, and the Vatican—provided financial assistance and called for global solidarity. International partners, notably the United States, sent rescue teams to assist in the emergency response. The coordinated effort underscores the Church’s role as a humanitarian network in the midst of a national disaster.
How does Catholic solidarity shape post‑disaster pastoral care?
Catholic solidarity shapes post-disaster pastoral care by making the Church’s response more than emergency relief: it becomes a mission of urgent presence, spiritual accompaniment, and the promotion of human dignity and just social rebuilding, all rooted in Christian brotherhood.
In Catholic teaching, solidarity is tied directly to human and Christian brotherhood—a real moral obligation that flows from what human beings share in common and from redemption. The Catechism warns against an “error” of disregard for the law of human solidarity and charity, stating that this law is “sealed by the sacrifice of redemption” on the Cross.
Solidarity is also explicitly described as “an eminently Christian virtue,” and notably it includes the sharing of spiritual goods, “even more than material ones.”
So after a disaster, Catholic pastoral care is not merely a charitable add-on; it is the concrete expression of a theological virtue—a way of being Church in the hour of suffering.
Catholic solidarity shows itself, first, in how goods are distributed and how work and remuneration are treated—because charity must be just, not only sentimental. The Catechism teaches that solidarity is manifested “in the first place by the distribution of goods and remuneration for work,” and also requires working for “a more just social order,” where conflicts can be settled by negotiation.
At the same time, solidarity in Christian form extends to spiritual needs. In disasters, many people face grief, fear, guilt, spiritual confusion, and the desire for meaning. Catholic teaching therefore insists that Christian communities provide “specific support,” not only material aid.
Saintly and papal teaching repeatedly links disasters to a heightened pastoral obligation. Pope John Paul II, speaking to disaster and emergency medicine participants, notes that the Church’s solicitude toward the suffering (modeled in Christ’s concern for the sick) becomes “if possible, even more intense and partaking” when entire communities are struck.
He further explains that in disaster medicine the Church recognizes and appreciates the growing awareness of a “primary and urgent” duty: assisting those who suffer.
In other words: solidarity does not wait for everything to stabilize. It shapes the Church’s first posture—urgency plus compassion, and compassion that does not neglect the whole person.
A key way solidarity shapes post-disaster pastoral care is by broadening “pastoral care” beyond counseling to include the full spiritual life of the Church.
The Pontifical Council’s guidance on refugees (which applies analogously to displaced/disaster-affected persons) states that the diffusion of pastoral resources should not be taken lightly by pastors because it is an appeal for “a more incisive pastoral presence, and not only a presence involving the provision of aid.”
It then specifies what that pastoral presence must ensure:
This is directly grounded in the commandment to love one’s brethren: “Organising the pastoral care of these people… forms a part of the response” to Christ’s command.
Catholic solidarity is also personal, not generic. Pastoral care after disasters must treat victims as persons with rights—not as “cases.”
The same pastoral text emphasizes that pastors who draw near “take on the duty to promote… a feeling of dignity, self-respect, and mutual respect,” and to show care and respect in the way those who help victims are themselves treated.
It also states that pastors have a duty to ensure respect for refugees as persons and for their rights—by “knowing the refugees… winning their trust, listening… and paying attention to everything said in confidence.”
After a disaster, then, solidarity shapes pastoral care as accompaniment rooted in trust, confidentiality, and the defense of human dignity—so that people can rebuild not only houses, but also their interior and social lives.
Solidarity is not isolation; it is coordinated service.
The Catechism teaches that citizens have a duty to work with civil authority in a spirit of “truth, justice, solidarity, and freedom.”
In disaster response, Pope Benedict XVI describes a “growing wave of solidarity” that enabled effective rescue operations by both State and Church institutions (and private individuals).
He adds that the Holy See intends to do its part “in harmony with the State bodies,” and concludes: “It is only by solidarity that such sorrowful trials can be overcome.”
Pope John Paul II likewise urged Catholics to share generously and asked Catholic relief institutions to place their resources at the service of victims, stressing that joining international aid should be “not in any spirit of competition but out of brotherly love.”
And for large-scale natural disasters, John Paul II’s message to a suffering nation highlights solidarity as “close to those still suffering,” “show solidarity to one another,” and concern for one’s neighbor “even at the cost of sacrifice,” together with appeals for international cooperation.
Post-disaster pastoral care must also address despair and spiritual darkness. Benedict XVI teaches that “faith continues to be a source of light and hope,” especially in tragic hours, and that it can open the heart to contemplation of Christ’s Passion, death, and Resurrection.
Papal communications after disasters repeatedly associate solidarity with spiritual consolation and Christian hope. For example, after an eruption that caused many victims, a message conveyed prayers that God would pour out “the gifts of solidarity, spiritual serenity and Christian hope.”
From the Church’s teaching above, Catholic solidarity tends to produce several concrete pastoral priorities:
Catholic solidarity shapes post-disaster pastoral care by grounding the Church’s response in a moral duty of Christian brotherhood—one that must be urgent, dignity-protecting, spiritually comprehensive (Word and sacraments included), and coordinated with the broader community for just rebuilding.