Catholic Church in Spain prays and mobilizes against floods in Valencia: At least 70 dead

In recent hours, the Catholic Church has expressed its dismay at the very serious floods suffered on the east coast of Spain, in which at least 70 people have died, and has mobilized a special Cáritas campaign.

In recent hours, Spain has suffered what is considered the third largest natural disaster in its contemporary history, which has primarily hit the territories of the Archdiocese of Valencia and the Dioceses of Cuenca and Albacete.

Only the 1996 flood in the Pyrenean town of Biescas, with 89 deaths, and the flooding of the Turia River in 1957, in which between 80 and 100 human losses are estimated, exceed the death toll confirmed so far.

The Archbishop of Valencia, Mons. Enrique Benavent, celebrated in this Wednesday morning (local time) a Eucharist in the Basilica of the Virgin of the Forsaken. During the homily, the prelate pointed out that “those most affected are those we should hold closest in our hearts, just as those who suffer the most are those closest to a mother’s heart.”

For this reason, Bishop Benavent invited “everyone to pray before the Blessed Virgin Mary, first of all, for those who have lost their lives in this great tragedy” and asked to keep in mind their families and all those who have been affected.

Hundreds of people have been forced to sleep outdoors when they were surprised by the large floods of water when they were traveling in their private vehicles yesterday afternoon. Many others have seen their homes flooded and their vehicles swept away in the middle of a strong storm that sometimes became a hurricane.

The Archbishopric of Valencia, which had made its facilities and resources available to citizens on Tuesday afternoon, has also not been able to display all the desired solidarity.

“The parishes have also been affected, but to the extent of our possibilities we must keep in mind all those who suffer, so that they feel in us a helping hand, a brother’s hand, who knows how to sympathize with them and who knows how to be attentive.” to their needs,” explained Mons. Benavent.

Regarding those who have been left momentarily without a roof over their heads, the archbishop expressed his desire “that they find in the Church, in Christians, a hand of brothers and a hand of friends. In this way we will also manifest that we are children of the Virgin of the Forsaken.”

Cáritas Española mobilizes in an emergency campaign

The nearby diocesan Cáritas have contacted the Archdiocese of Valencia to offer their services, as confirmed to ACI Prensa by Marisa Villaroig, head of Cáritas in the Diocese of Segorbe-Castellón: “We have made ourselves available to you. We are waiting for the damage to be assessed” to know the specific needs, confident that the capillarity of this service of the Catholic Church will be very useful.

“We are a little tight at heart,” confesses Villaroig, who in the first person is going to welcome some people from Valencia into his home.

Cáritas Española has announced the launch of a campaign to respond to the emergency situation in which the delegations of Valencia and Albacete, present in the hardest hit areas, have a special role, despite the fact that they have also been affected.

Condolences and support from different dioceses

Since early in the morning, cardinals, archbishops, bishops and dioceses have publicly expressed their pain for the human losses, their regret for the material disasters and their willingness to work on material and spiritual recovery.

This is what the Archbishop of Valladolid and president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), Mons. Luis Argüello, has done through the episcopal institution.

Both Bishop Argüello and the Secretary General of the EEC, Bishop Francisco César García Magán, they have written letters to the Archbishop of Valencia and the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Albacete. Mons. Julián Ros, to express “his pain and closeness.”

For his part, the Archbishop of Barcelona, ​​Cardinal Juan José Omella, noted that he is “Dismayed by the tragic images that reach us from Valencia and Albacete” and pledged his prayers “for the victims, their families and all those affected.”

“Experiences like this remind us of the fragility of our human condition and open us to the hope of eternal life in heaven,” the Cardinal recalled.

Mons. José Ignacio Munilla, Bishop of Orihuela-Alicante, suffragan diocese of Valencia, invited people to pray a response for the deceased:

In turn, the Archbishop of Granada, Mons. José María Gil Tamayo, He also expressed his condolences.just as the Archbishop of Seville has done, Mons. José Ángel Saiz Meneses,

The Bishop of León has also spoken, Mons. Luis Ángel de las Heras and the Bishop of Getafe, Mons. Ginés Garcíaamong others.

On an institutional basis, the Dioceses of Vitoria, Avila y Mondoñedo-Ferrolas well as the Archdiocese of Madrid.

The Government of Spain has decreed three days of official mourning for the tragedy.

UPDATED at 16:56 GMT+2 as a greater number of victims is known.