Natural disasters Archives

Pope “deeply saddened” by flooding devastation in Sierra Leone
- Global Church
- August 16, 2017
“His Holiness Pope Francis assures those who have lost loved ones of his closeness at this difficult time. He prays for all who have died, and upon their grieving families and friends he invokes the divine blessings of strength and consolation,” reads a letter from Pope Francis to the Archbishop in Sierra Leone, where floods and mudslides caused hundreds of deaths.
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Catholic community offers prayer, supplies for London fire victims
- Catholic News Agency, Global Church
- June 16, 2017
Following the massive fire at an apartment complex in west London, Catholic bishops of Westminster offered their prayers and support. Catholic parishes in the surrounding area received many donations of food, clothes, and water to be distributed.
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A Texas parish keeps faith after a tornado destroys the church
- Church in the US
- May 13, 2017
A tornado on April 29 destroyed the parish church of St. John the Evangelist in Emory, Texas. The next day, they held Mass in the parish parking lot with 200 people attending. They offered it in thanksgiving that nobody in the parish was seriously injured.
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“The Vessel” movie explores suffering and belief

September 15, 2016

Julio Quintana’s new film, “The Vessel,” chronicles the story of small Latin American town a decade after the loss of almost 50 schoolchildren in a tsunami. The film is deeply symbolic and raises significant questions regarding suffering, the bonds of family, and belief.

Mass for quake victims features ladders, helmets of rescue workers

As Pope Francis pledged on Sunday to visit a region of Italy devastated by an earthquake that left 290 people dead and thousands injured, a Mass was celebrated on Sunday for survivors in a tent underneath a makeshift cross constructed out of two fire ladders and the helmets of rescue workers.

Poverty complicates rebuilding in Ecuador after massive quake

Four months after an April 16 earthquake that killed more than 670 people, injured nearly 5,000 and left as many as 80,000 homeless, residents of northern Ecuador are slowly rebuilding. But the disaster exposed long-standing problems related to chronic poverty that will take longer to solve, especially in rural areas.