The Voice of the suffering in Latin America

“Seeing people embrace us and seek comfort in us is a sign that the Church’s mission is to be with the people,” says a future priest. Germán Jiménez, a seminarian from the Diocese of Petare, Venezuela, is in the final stage of formation before his ordination to the priesthood. From the very first moment following the double earthquake on June 24, he mobilized to bring material and spiritual aid to thousands of victims in La Guaira, the worst-affected region. According ...

Venezuela is in mourning. Pain is everywhere, and the Church is often the only source of hope. At the entrance to the Church of Our Lady of Candelaria on Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, people are greeted by a poster with three lists: the dead, the missing, and the rescued. The church, in the city of Caraballeda, is under construction and does not have walls or a ceiling yet. And yet, the church fills every day — with the living and the ...

“Beautiful to see solidarity and charity,” Archbishop Ortega tells ACN in LaGuaira. “But needs will persist.” Recovery from last month’s twin earthquakes in Venezuela will be a long-term project, said the Vatican’s ambassador to the country. “It’s terrible to see so many buildings” destroyed “and to know the number of victims, sick people,” Archbishop Alberto Ortega Martín, apostolic nuncio of the Holy See to Venezuela, told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). “But it’s beautiful to see the solidarity, ...

Camps take place in 11 different countries, with a particular focus on regions marked by war, displacement, and instability. After some 15 years of instability, civil war, and episodic persecution, Syria is a place where a “normal life” is no longer possible for many children. And that’s why summer camp can be a game-changer. Claude Semaan, coordinator of Faith and Light in Syria, an international movement fostering spiritual growth among people with disabilities, explains that for many kids, camps are ...

On visit to Venezuela, ACN executive president struck by generosity of spirit among those hit by June 24 earthquakes An impoverished population might have been down due to years of economic turmoil in Venezuela, but they are definitely not out, said Regina Lynch, executive president of Aid to the Church in Need. Lynch and a small team from ACN headquarters in Germany flew to Bogota, Colombia, and then to Valencia, Venezuela. The twin earthquakes that devastated the country June 24 ...

The Superior General of the Pious Disciples of the Divine Master, who was due to return to Rome, speaks movingly about the faith displayed by the people amid tragedy. The double earthquake that struck Venezuela on June 24, claiming more than 3,000 lives and affecting thousands of families, has mobilized the Church throughout the country, as Caritas centers and many parishes become hubs of relief efforts, supported by numerous volunteers. The Superior General and a General Councilor of the Pious ...