Venezuelan priest: Some places unrecognizable after earthquakes

By Johan Pacheco

“The scale of the disaster is enormous. The La Guaira area is the most devastated in the entire country. Some places are virtually unrecognizable because everything has been destroyed… areas that will likely have to be evacuated and abandoned,” said Father Wuilliam José Vázquez Toro, rector of the St. Peter Apostle Seminary in La Guaira, Venezuela, after the deadly earthquakes that hit the country on June 24,  also severely damaging the seminary’s facilities.

In La Guaira, rescue operations continue around the clock, a week after the earthquake, in an effort to find as many survivors as possible.

The tragic death toll has surpassed 1,900 people, with more than 10,000 injured. Some 50,000 people are still missing and feared dead. Official figures also report nearly 16,000 people displaced or affected by the disaster, while 855 buildings have sustained damage.

“There are areas that will have to be reconsidered in the future, especially regarding the relocation of all the residents and survivors to other places,” Father Vázquez told Vatican News.

“There was talk of a very large number of buildings that have collapsed, and aftershocks are continuing. Because of these aftershocks, people have been urged to remain calm but also to exercise great caution, since there are places that are likely to give way. Now the greatest task begins: supporting people through this situation,” he said.

Damaged buildings in La Guaira   (AFP or licensors)

Hope in the rescue efforts

Father Vázquez explained that “people are still being rescued. For example, just last night, near our seminary, a 12-year-old boy was pulled alive from the rubble, even though the earthquake occurred last Wednesday night.”

“We are here to help and to accompany the people. There has been a great deal of solidarity. We have seen it both in the rescue teams that have arrived from other places and in the strength and resilience of the Venezuelan people,” Father Vázquez said.

He also lamented that many members of the parish Caritas organizations of the local Church had either died or remain missing.

Nevertheless, “the Church currently has collection and distribution centers both in La Guaira and in several other locations. Supplies are being distributed throughout the affected areas, especially to reach the communities that have suffered the greatest devastation and those most in need.”

The Diocese of La Guaira left without a seminary

The rector of the St. Peter Apostle Seminary also reported that the building itself suffered extensive damage.

“We have practically been left without a seminary because, after an assessment of the building, it is very likely that we will not be able to return there. It is in extremely poor condition. However, the seminary is us,” he said.

He also praised the courage of the seminarians, who quickly became involved in relief efforts for those affected by the disaster.

“I told them that this shows they will, God willing, become good priests. I reminded them that the seminary is each one of them, and that this is the moment to reaffirm God’s call to serve Christ and serve the Church.”

Without facilities for their formation in La Guaira, the seminarians have been welcomed by the St. Rosa of Lima Seminary in Venezuela’s capital, a gesture that Father Vázquez described as “a tremendous act of solidarity with the ecclesiastical province of Caracas.”

Humanitarian situation worsens

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which is coordinating protection and shelter efforts for those displaced by the earthquakes in Venezuela, stated on Tuesday that the humanitarian situation in the affected areas “has deteriorated rapidly.”

According to the agency, there is “a severe shortage of food, the collapse of basic services, and increasing protection risks for the displaced population.”