Church mobilises to help quake victims

The Church in Italy has been mobilised at full force to assist the thousands of people made homeless in the Amatrice earthquake with a pledge of one million euros from the Bishops’ Conference and a special collection to be taken at Masses later this month to help with relief efforts.

Pope Francis, who has said he hopes to visit the region “as soon as possible”, reacted immediately to news of the 6.2 magnitude quake, which claimed the lives of more than 290 people. He said Mass for the victims within two hours of the disaster and led people in praying the Rosary in place of his planned general audience address in St Peter’s Square that morning, telling the crowd he had been “deeply saddened” to learn that the town of Amatrice no longer existed, and that children were among the victims. The Bishop of Rieti, Domenico Pompili, whose diocese was badly affected by the tremors, said he received a phone call from Francis at 7 a.m. on the day of the quake, asking for news and passing on his prayers and condolences. The Pope later sent six of the 37 members of the Vatican fire brigade to help with the rescue operation.

Catholic charitable agencies in Italy and across Europe have been providing assistance for the 2,900 homeless with an initial 100,000 euros allocated by Caritas Italiana to deal with the most pressing needs along with 50,000 euros from Caritas Germany. A collection in parishes across the country will take place on 18 September.

Some priests and Religious were caught up in the disaster, while many more led efforts to comfort those who had lost loved ones. On the first Sunday after the earthquake, priests celebrated Mass in tents in the makeshift village set up for homeless people, and in one tent, at Arquata del Tronto, worshippers prayed around a large makeshift crucifix constructed from the ladders and helmets of the rescue teams. The day before, at a state funeral held for 35 victims, the Bishop of Ascoli Piceno, Giovanni d’Ercole, said: “Together, we will restore life to our communities, starting from our traditions and the rubble of death.” One of the most enduring images from the earthquake was a photograph beamed around the world of a 35-year-old Albanian nun, Sr Marjana Lleshi, sitting on a pavement looking dazed and bloodied next to a body covered by a blanket and using her mobile phone. She had, she said later, been convinced she was about to die when her home, the Don Minozzi convent in Amatrice, was hit. She sent messages asking for prayers, and saying farewell. “I had said adieu,” she said later. “In the end, it wasn’t an adieu.” Sr Marjana was pulled from the rubble by a man who helped her and her fellow Handmaidens of the Lord sisters to run their home for the elderly. Three of the other nuns, and four of those they cared for, died. As she recovered this week, Sr Marjana said she hoped she would still be able to attend the canonisation of another Albanian nun, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, in St Peter’s Square tomorrow.