Head of ACN to visit Venezuela to show solidarity following earthquakes

Venezuelans are a people of faith and have a Church that is close to the population, giving much hope in face of tragedy, Regina Lynch says.

The executive president of the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), will be travelling to Venezuela, following the tragic earthquakes that killed thousands of people.

Regina Lynch will arrive in the country on Tuesday, July 7, to visit the dioceses most affected by the earthquakes, and to express the closeness of the charity to the local Church and to the communities hit by the tragedy.

The back-to-back earthquakes that shook northern Venezuela on June 24 left a wake of destruction in several regions of the country, especially in Archdiocese of Caracas and Diocese of La Guaira. By July 3, the death toll had risen to about 2,300, and thousands more remain missing.

To support the immediate response of the local Church, which is accompanying the affected families and attending to the most urgent needs, ACN has approved an initial emergency aid package of 100,000 euros ($114,418). In time, the foundation will be sending additional aid packages for reconstruction.

Lynch will be visiting both dioceses to hear first-hand about their needs and personally convey the spiritual and material support of the foundation.

“We are now going to Venezuela to show in person that the local Church is not alone in the face of tragedy, to express our solidarity to the people who are suffering, and to bring them the messages of closeness of all our benefactors,” Lynch said.

Lynch stressed that ACN’s response is only possible thanks to the fidelity of thousands of benefactors in dozens of countries who, even in this crisis, want to be close to the Venezuelan Church.

“ACN’s benefactors have been very faithful during these long years of suffering in Venezuela, and now that the Church in Venezuela once more needs them to come to its aid, they have again responded to the call,” Lynch said.

The executive president stressed that this response is part of the identity and charism of ACN’s mission: “This is what defines ACN’s benefactors. When there is a crisis, when there is a need, they step forward and show their generosity, not only with financial help, but also with their closeness and prayer to the suffering Church. I am deeply grateful to them,” she explained.

Lynch, originally from Northern Ireland, has had first-hand experience of ACN’s mission and the reality of the suffering Churches since 1980. After several years leading ACN’s project department, she became ACN International’s executive president in June 2023.

This is not the first time she has represented ACN, visiting communities after disasters. ACN was on the ground just a few days after the Islamic State group invaded the Nineveh Plain in 2014, for example.

“For us, it is very important to show that ACN and its benefactors do not forget those who suffer,” Lynch said. “It is also important to be able to bear witness to the suffering and needs of those who are in the midst of these terrible tragedies.”

Despite the magnitude of the disaster, Lynch highlights the strength of the faith of the Venezuelan people and the closeness of the Church to the affected communities.

“Venezuela, despite this terrible earthquake, is blessed to have a people of faith and a Church that is very close to the population. And it is precisely there, even in the face of something that seems humanly insurmountable, that we find hope,” she said.

“We must remain hopeful that better times will come, and that this suffering will not be in vain,” she concluded, asking for prayers that her journey may bear fruit.

–Maria Lozano