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Primate of Colombia: Before rebuilding Churches, we must rebuild the people
Following the earthquake that affected numerous communities in western Colombia, Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio, the Primate of the country, tells Vatican News about the “Spiritual First Aid” – a support mission of 4 bishops and 80 priests who set out to accompany the suffering in the impacted areas.
By Sebastián Sansón Ferrari
Fifteen dioceses have been affected, thousands of homes destroyed, and hospitals, schools, universities, and numerous churches damaged by the earthquake that struck western Colombia on Monday, August 10, 2026, at 7:34 a.m. Alongside the urgent need for material reconstruction, the disaster has also opened a deep human wound that will require time, solidarity, and accompaniment.
Amid the devastation, pain, and helplessness, however, signs of hope have also emerged. The Catholic Church has mobilized to accompany the affected populations, not only in their most immediate needs, but also in the pain, grief, and uncertainty of those who have lost their homes, loved ones, or the places that for generations have been at the heart of their communities.
Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio, Archbishop of Bogotá and Primate of Colombia, traveled with four other bishops and eighty priests from the Archdiocese to some of the worst-affected areas. In conversation with Vatican News, he explains that the initiative arose from a simple but urgent question: “What can we do?”
They were inspired by the Gospel’s call “to draw close to the reality of suffering, and by Pope Leo’s constant closeness to those who suffer—as Pope Francis was—and to the situations taking place in different parts of the world. And so we asked ourselves what we could do immediately.”
First spiritual aid
The answer, the cardinal explains, was to set out. “Speaking with some priests from the Archdiocese of Bogotá, we said that we could mobilize quickly to provide some first spiritual aid,” he says. The idea was to be present alongside those who were suffering, just as rescuers, doctors, and nurses were mobilizing to respond to physical and medical emergencies.
Five bishops and eighty priests embarked on a fourteen-hour journey by car. Their mission first took them to Pereira, in the department of Risaralda, and then to the various ecclesiastical jurisdictions of Valle del Cauca, where the priests were sent out to accompany the communities.
Some remained in Cali; others to Palmira, Cartago, and Buga. Cardinal Rueda Aparicio, together with a group of priests, traveled toward Buenaventura, on the Pacific coast, one of the regions where the tragedy caused by the earthquake has compounded wounds that go back many years.
Celebrating Mass as part of the “First Spiritual Aid” mission (@Archdiocese of Bogotá) (@Arquidiócesis de Bogotá)
Buenaventura: Where wounds have accumulated
Buenaventura is a city marked by multiple forms of suffering. The earthquake aggravated a reality in which poverty, neglect, and violence by armed groups converge.
The Primate of Colombia recalls that it is the country’s main Pacific port, a city of around 350,000 inhabitants that nevertheless continues to face serious difficulties in meeting some of its population’s basic needs. “It is a situation that combines the State’s neglect with the violence of armed groups,” he explains.
Numerous fishermen and their families live in the poorest areas along the coast. Many of their homes are built over the water: wooden structures with makeshift roofs, constructed beside the places where they work and keep their boats.
Added to this precariousness is the story of many people who have arrived there after being displaced by violence in other parts of the country. “We could say that they are doubly victims: first, of the armed conflict and, second, of this earthquake,” the cardinal says.
The pain of abandonment and the strength of women
The experience in Buenaventura allowed the Archbishop of Bogotá to encounter an everyday reality that reveals the extent to which vulnerability can become a wound accumulated over many years.
High temperatures, difficulties accessing drinking water, and the presence of sick people and elderly residents in need of care are part of daily life for many families. “It makes you feel the pain of the neglect this region has suffered,” he shares.
Yet amid these hardships, the cardinal also encountered an extraordinary capacity for solidarity. One of the faces that impressed him most was that of the women of the Pacific coast, whose presence sustains much of the communities’ daily life. “Afro-Colombian women carry music and dance in their hearts,” he recounts.
During Eucharistic celebrations improvised in the streets or under tents—together with priests and religious women—he witnessed their fundamental role within the communities. They sing praises to the Lord while also making sure there is enough food for those who come to the community kitchens. Food banks have become an essential source of assistance. But solidarity is not limited to distributing what arrives. When Cardinal Rueda Aparicio asked how they cared for elderly people who could not travel, the women explained that they first sent food to those who remained in their homes and to the sick, before distributing it among everyone else.
“That female presence there, offering a hand, loving and serving life, is a powerful message of faith,” he says.
The “First Spiritual Aid” mission mobilized around eighty priests from the Archdiocese of Bogotá, who traveled to the affected areas, visiting destroyed homes and churches, speaking with residents, and carrying out other activities. (@Archdiocese of Bogotá) (@Arquidiócesis de Bogotá)
Smiling in the midst of tragedy
Another aspect that deeply moved the cardinal was the ability of children and young people to preserve their joy in circumstances that might seem unbearable. “I was struck by seeing children and young people smiling, capable of joy, capable of faith,” he recalls.
This does not mean, he clarifies, that they are unaware of what is happening. Many were born and raised in contexts marked by conflict and neglect, and the earthquake now presents them with another trial within a history of hardship that has become part of their daily lives.
And yet they smile.
The cardinal was also deeply impressed by the priests’ closeness to their communities. He saw them walking through the neighborhoods, greeting people by name, and stopping to offer a word of encouragement.
That familiarity, he says, reveals a Church deeply embedded in people’s everyday lives. “I was able to discover that closeness between the priest, the evangelizer, and the lay faithful.”
Communities that become family
Amid the suffering, the small communities of faith have also demonstrated their importance. These are groups that meet regularly around the Word of God and the Eucharist and that, over time, have built bonds strong enough to withstand even the most difficult moments.
When suffering arrives, the cardinal explains, those bonds become visible. “They become brothers and sisters who accompany one another, help one another, and look out for one another.”
2026 “First Spiritual Aid” mission of the Archdiocese of Bogotá (@Archdiocese of Bogotá) (@Arquidiócesis de Bogotá)
For Cardinal Rueda Aparicio, this experience is one of the fruits of the evangelizing work carried out over many years by so many bishops, priests, and lay people. At a time of trial, he says, a faith emerges that allows people to see themselves as brothers and sisters, close to one another and responsible for one another.
One of the most significant moments of his journey took place in front of a partially destroyed church in Buenaventura. The area had to be cordoned off for safety reasons, and other spaces had to be found to store food, medicine, and essential supplies.
The destruction of churches causes profound pain. Many of them were built through the efforts of several generations, with small contributions and the work of communities that regarded those places as part of their own history.
For these people, the cardinal explains, the church is not merely a building. It is the house of God, but also the home of fraternity and encounter. That is why, when they see it destroyed, they feel that an important part of their own lives has also collapsed.
But in the face of this reality, the Primate of Colombia insists on a priority that runs throughout his reflection: “Before the churches, we must rebuild the people.”
Material reconstruction will be necessary and, in many cases, complex. Some buildings will have to be completely demolished and rebuilt; others may be reinforced and partially restored. But the Church, he emphasizes, must begin with the people. “We must rebuild hope.”
Priests have seen children from catechism classes who are now homeless, families who have lost loved ones, and catechists and community volunteers who have been left without homes or means of employment. For this reason, before thinking about bricks, it is essential to accompany people who have lost almost everything.
“It is very important to accompany people first, to accompany families first,” Cardinal Rueda Aparicio stresses. Afterwards, he trusts, God will help rebuild the churches, seminaries, and rectories.
A Church celebrating under a tent
The destruction of numerous churches will force many communities to celebrate for months, and even years, in makeshift spaces. “We are going to set up a tent; we are going to create a church in a safe place,” has been the response of some communities.
2026 “First Spiritual Aid” Mission of the Archdiocese of Bogotá (@Archdiocese of Bogotá) (@Arquidiócesis de Bogotá)
The cardinal sees in this image a deeply biblical reference. During their pilgrimage through the desert, the people of Israel had a tent of meeting. In a similar way, many Colombian communities will now have to live out their faith under a tent: a tent of encounter, gathering, and liturgy. It will be a liturgy united with suffering, but also open to hope.
While families’ homes are rebuilt and, afterward, the churches, the life of faith will continue.
The Good Samaritan and the urgency of stopping
For the priests and bishops who took part in this mission, the passage of the Good Samaritan in Chapter 10 of the Gospel of Saint Luke was a source of inspiration.
When faced with an injured person lying by the roadside, one cannot respond with indifference or postpone help indefinitely.
“The person lying on the road needs me to look at them, to be moved by compassion, to stop,” the cardinal explains.
This mission did not arise from extensive planning or a complex methodology. Rather, it was an immediate response to a need that could not wait. “It was like a call from the Lord and an urgent sending forth.”
Changing their schedules, setting aside their responsibilities, and setting out—that was the response. “This will require a great deal of time, but we cannot remain indifferent. We must draw near at this moment.”
When words are not enough
What can you say to someone who has lost everything? What can you say to someone who asks where God is in the midst of a tragedy? For the Primate of Colombia, there are moments when words are insufficient.
The appropriate language, the cardinal maintains, is something else. “It is the language of an embrace. It is the language of tenderness. It is the language of listening.”
It is also the language of respectful silence in the face of another person’s pain, and of a presence that does not try to offer easy answers.
The response to the profound questions that arise in the midst of tragedy cannot, he says, be reduced to a theoretical explanation. “Surely the answer is not a beautiful theological theory, but an experience of closeness.”
Care for the affected communities will take place in different stages. First, it will be necessary to respond to the most urgent humanitarian needs: food, medicine, medical care, and accompaniment for those who have lost family members.
Cardinal Rueda Aparicio in Buenaventura during the “First Spiritual Aid” Mission (@Archdiocese of Bogotá) (@Arquidiócesis de Bogotá)
Then will come a stabilization phase, both emotionally and in terms of basic needs, including housing and places for study. Finally, structural reconstruction will be necessary, which will inevitably take time.
But alongside these material processes, the Church wants to provide emotional, psychological, and spiritual accompaniment. People “need to be healed; they need to grieve and work through their loss,” Cardinal Rueda Aparicio.
For this reason, he speaks of a task that cannot be limited to the first days of the emergency. It will no longer be merely a matter of first aid, but of a permanent and constant presence rooted in spirituality and faith. Food banks and social ministry will also play an important role in this process, together with evangelization that helps rebuild from within people’s hearts.
Caring for those who care for others
Reconstruction also requires caring for those who remain at the forefront of communities and institutions.
Priests, bishops, catechists, leaders of civil organizations, mayors, and governors are working intensely amid the emergency and also need to regain their strength. “We have to care for those who are leading,” the cardinal highlights. They need to rest, receive accompaniment, and find spaces in which to recover the physical and spiritual strength necessary to continue.
The profound beauty of the human being
As the conversation draws to a close, Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio turns his gaze beyond Colombia.
Conflicts, wars, violence, climate change, and migration affect all continents today. In the face of so many wounds, he says, it is necessary to recover “the richest humanism, the most beautiful expression of our human condition.” From Colombia, a country facing the consequences of the earthquake, the Primate urges us not to allow suffering to have the final word.
The answer, he insists, also lies in the ability of human beings to help one another, beyond their differences, with their hands and hearts united. He concludes with an invitation that captures the spirit of his experience among the affected communities: “May the profound beauty of the human being emerge in the midst of suffering.”
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