A national collection promoted by the Italian Episcopal Conference to help the Venezuelan population is taking place on Sunday 26 July in all Italian parishes. A concrete gesture to express the closeness of the Italian Church to those who have been hit hard by a double tragedy: the earthquake and the pre-existing humanitarian crisis.
The initiative, desired by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi and coordinated by Caritas Italiana, aims to raise funds to deal with present and future emergencies. The offers will be intended to guarantee the distribution of drinking water, food, hygiene kits, medicines and health, psychosocial and spiritual support. The CEI invites us to avoid isolated initiatives, to ensure that aid is coordinated and effective. A delegation from Caritas Italiana will soon travel to Venezuela to strengthen collaboration with the local Church.
The collection arose from the emergency of 24 June last, when two strong earthquakes (magnitude 7.2 and 7.5) shocked the north of the country, causing over 5,500 victims and over 16,700 injured, as well as tens of thousands missing (according to some estimates, up to 68,000).
Nearly 18,000 people have lost their homes and are living in temporary camps, with over 1.4 million newly needy people in addition to the 8 million already in poverty before the earthquake.
Furthermore, direct damages are estimated at around 37 billion dollars.
This natural catastrophe has struck a country already suffering from years of crisis. Venezuela was experiencing a political transition following the capture of former president Nicolás Maduro in January. The interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, has initiated economic openings, but free elections remain distant and the repressive system has remained largely intact. Furthermore, US pressure demanded and obtained that the Government also announce its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court to join the efforts led by Washington to “dismantle” the court.
The Italian Church, however, while politics continues to wobble, continues its support so as not to further degenerate the already serious humanitarian crisis.
