EarthBeat Weekly: Church aids relief efforts after deadly Venezuela quakes

Churches aid ongoing relief efforts after deadly twin Venezuela quakes   EarthBeat Weekly Your weekly newsletter about faith and climate change July 10, 2026   A priest gives a blessing as he stands amid rubble at the site of a collapsed building in La Guaira, Venezuela, July 1, 2026, in the aftermath of earthquakes. (OSV News/Reuters/Adriano Machado) Relief efforts continue more than two weeks after two major earthquakes rocked Venezuela.  As of Thursday, at least 3,500 were killed from the 7.2 and 7.5 quakes, which took place just 39 seconds apart June 24 in the northern part of the South American country. Among the organizations working to provide aid and assistance to some of the estimated 7.9 million people in need are Catholic Relief Services and Caritas Venezuela, both part of Caritas Internationalis— the universal Catholic Church's global humanitarian network. CRS has deployed an earthquake response support team, which so far has handed out more than 1,800 emergency food kits, 850 family hygiene kits and 400 baby hygiene kits and sent more than 1,600 tarpaulins for shelters, Brittany Wichtendahl, a CRS spokesperson, told OSV News. In addition, Caritas Venezuela has supplied 5,000 emergency food kits, 3,000 hygiene kits, more than 120,000 liters of safe water and more than 73,000 medical supplies and medicine, as well as nearly 900 tools to assist search and rescue teams as they dig through rubble and debris.  Read more: Catholic leaders, aid workers respond to Venezuela earthquakes Pope Leo XIV, who ministered for more than two decades in neighboring Peru, offered prayers soon after the quakes struck.  "Praying to the Lord for the eternal rest of the deceased, I renew my spiritual solidarity with their families, the injured, and all who have been shaken by this tragedy," Leo said after the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square on June 28. "I also wish to express my gratitude and encouragement to those generously working on search and rescue efforts and providing assistance." Read more: Pope Leo XIV calls for solidarity, prayers after deadly Venezuela quakes In many parts of Venezuela, faith leaders who are themselves impacted by the disaster have become its first responders, reports Aleja Hertzler-McCain for Religion News Service.  That includes Presbyterian pastor Ricardo Corzo Moreno, who in the immediate aftermath was doing two jobs at once: calming his family through the aftershocks and helping launch a 24-hour prayer and collection center for survivors. Corzo Moreno is among those coordinating faith groups in Venezuela to provide spiritual support along with emergency response and humanitarian aid.  "Not even in my worst nightmares did I imagine a situation as apocalyptic as the current one," he told Hertzler-McCain.  Read more: Reeling from Venezuela's earthquakes, churches rush to inspect buildings, distribute supplies In an essay for Global Sisters Report, María Maura Aranguren, a Sister of our Lady of Consolation, writes that the earthquakes have again shaken her country and plunged its people  into deep grief.  "The question continues to echo: Where is God? Did God want this to happen? No. God does not want his children to suffer. Yet God is present in the midst of this pain, offering signs of light and hope in every child, father, mother and older adult pulled from the rubble,"  Aranguren writes. "God is present in every volunteer who has left everything behind to search for survivors; in every sister, brother and priest who has gone to the disaster areas to bring comfort and compassion; in every Venezuelan determined to clear away debris with little more than bare hands; in every person using social media to share information; and in every group gathered in prayer, asking God to bring comfort and keep our faith strong." Read more: After 2 earthquakes, nuns do their part in Venezuelans' compassionate response What else is new on EarthBeat:   Why are sisters more engaged in environmental activism than other church leaders? by Sabrina Danielsen, Ellie Simmons In the face of decades of papal teachings about the reality and urgency of climate change, U.S. sisters have been leaders on environmental action. In contrast, U.S. bishops have largely not been creation care leaders. Read more here »   Bishops plan Mass on pilgrimage mountain Trump administration seeks to seize by Gina Christian, OSV News As the Trump administration moves to seize a diocesan pilgrimage site for the border wall, bishops from New Mexico and Texas are calling on the faithful to join them for Mass on the mountain. Read more here »   As plastic chokes Vietnam's seas, people of faith cast their nets for hope by Joachim Pham Vietnam is among the five largest contributors to marine plastic pollution globally. For local fishing communities, the consequences are becoming impossible to ignore. Every trip brings encounters with floating debris. Read more here »   Renewable energy investments are a moral and economic imperative by Bridget Moix, Religion News Service Ordinary families are being asked to carry the costs of an energy system that enriches a few while leaving communities everywhere vulnerable to conflict, instability and rising prices.  Read more here » What's happening in other climate news: Without climate change, U.S. heat wave called 'virtually impossible' —Raymond Zhong for The New York Times After bold pledge, EPA shelves microplastics testing in U.S. drinking water —Susanne Rust for the Los Angeles Times US power use to beat record highs in 2026 and 2027 as AI use surges, EIA says —Scott Disavino for Reuters Native American tribes came together to secure their rights to Colorado River water. Four states are stalling the deal. —Mark Olalde for ProPublica and Alex Hager for KJZZ News-Phoenix The 'time-consuming' permits dozens of data centers are skipping —Miranda Willson for E&E News What most battleground House districts have in common: Data centers —Catherine Allen and Noah Baustin for Politico Specialty farmers adapt harvests, protect crops in face of extreme heat —Joshua A. Bickel for the Associated Press Washington records world's worst air quality for a city after 850,000 Fourth of July fireworks —Dharna Noor for the Guardian There's a bit of good news for coral reefs —Katharine Houreld for The New York Times Final Beat: In the last EartBeat Weekly, there was a link to a story about recent awards National Catholic Reporter and Global Sisters Report received from the Catholic Media Association. Environmental coverage was well represented.  Our reporting on the COP30 United Nations climate summit received first place for international news, with freelancer Eduardo Campos Lima reporting from the ground in Belém, Brazil, GSR Africa/Middle East correspondent providing coverage from Kenya and I provided backup from Kansas City. My reporting on the second Trump administration's attacks on environmental and climate policies took first place in reporting on social justice issues related to caring for God's creation.  EarthBeat Weekly also earned first place for best electronic newsletter. Lastly, I was humbled to see a series of my environmental reports earn the top writer of the year honor for English-speaking journalists. You can revisit those stories below:  Bishop John Stowe urged Appalachia to heed the call of Laudato Si'. Here's how parishes are responding. Laudato Si' 101: University students boost energy efficiency at at Newark Archdiocese Catholic solar projects in peril as GOP slashes clean energy tax credits Faith groups blast 'evil' EPA rollback plans, 'climate change religion' comment Loyola Marymount environment conference caught in Trump's DEI crackdown As always, thanks for reading EarthBeat.   Brian Roewe Environment Correspondent National Catholic Reporter broewe@ncronline.org     Featured Advertisers   Become a Healer. Online, Flexible, Stackable. Apply your credits towards a Master’s in Ministry. NACC education collaborator.   Advertisement

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