Texas
Mons. Michael Mulvey, bishop of Corpus Christi, the first Texan diocese disrupted by Harvey’s storm, spent the past three days visiting his diocese and some of the parishes most severely hit by the hurricane. “I found deep faith in everyone; they were truly happy to see that I was there in this difficult moment – he told us over the phone -. Relief efforts were immediate, the recreational centre became a shelter for evacuees, but a lot of work needs to be done and rebuilding will take years. Houses were destroyed, the school collapsed, and restoring everything as it was will take much time and generosity”
(from New York) Images of houses, vehicles, roads, train stations, crops submerged by high waters are uninterruptedly broadcast by US TV networks. Hurricane Harvey’s destructive force persists – albeit now on its way out- but the solidarity waves it raised nationwide is relentless. Hundreds of volunteers swarmed to Houston and to the south of Texas, rescuing the victims stuck in their homes with their own boats and canoes. Hour after hour people open their shops and their homes spared by the disaster to give shelter to all those forced to abandon everything, and who in fact have lost everything they had.
Some parishes are being used as centres for food and clothing distribution, and also as shelters for those whose homes were swallowed up by the high waters and walked under the heavy rains for hundreds of meters before reaching a dry area.
“When I reached our church – said Chiara, from the Focolari Movement – phones were ringing uninterruptedly for information on offerings and requests of help. Also a rugby team and a club phoned to help relief efforts. Most volunteers are young college students, efforts to collect foodstuffs and beds are relentless.” Francis drove in by car and offered to help rescue those trapped in the flood or in emergency situations; he also volunteered for the night shift in the shelters. Several shelters were set up in Houston, including a shelter for 9 thousand evacuees. It’s moving to see that nobody passes by that area empty-handed.
A department store offered free supplies of sanitation and emergency kits. There are many children among the evacuees, to whom their peers donate bags full of toys that they carry with them all the way to the donation centres. Jason rescued with his canoe a widowed woman who saw her house flooded with water and fled bringing with her only a plastic bag containing a change of clothes: it’s all she has left. Jason saved her life. He then invited her for lunch with his family before accompanying her to one of the shelters. Marga is a nurse. Today she finally interrupted 15 non-stop hours of work to eat something.
“Everyone shows solidarity – she said – it’s deeply moving. Some of the victims waited as many as 8 hours before receiving a medical examination, but there were no signs of restlessness, in fact everyone sought to preserve a serene atmosphere even in the hospital’s waiting room.”
The bishop of Corpus Christi, the first Texan diocese hit by Harvey, spent the past three days paying visits in his diocese and in some of the parishes that suffered the most severe damages. “I found a deep faith in everyone and they were truly happy that I was there in these difficult moments – Monsignor Michael Mulvey told us by phone-. Relief efforts were provided immediately, the recreational centre has become a centre for evacuees. But a lot of work lies ahead, and rebuilding will take years. Houses were destroyed, the school collapsed, and restoring everything as it was will take time and generosity. The roof of the shrine of the Schoenstatt nuns collapsed, along with a part of their institute.” The bishops’ voice transmits a mixture of hopefulness and concern: his is a poor diocese and the damages are severe, but he continues repeating that the diocese of Galveston-Houston is suffering much more. One of his parishioners has died: “He was on a wheelchair and had lit the candles because the power went out, but then a large fire flared out of nowhere and he couldn’t escape”, he said with a broken voice. Over the past days he sent a video to his parishioners informing them that he would stay near them until the end.
“This is what is means for me to be a pastor, to be in the peripheries and live with those who are suffering. A non-Catholic woman came up to me to tell me that before the hurricane the small community was divided over trivial matters, but Harvey’s fury spurred everyone’s solidarity and restored renewed relationships between everyone.”
On Friday September 2 Monsignor Mulvey will convene all the priests, deacons, and the pastoral staff to coordinate relief efforts and donations “because we intend to face this situation together, as a united Church.” Masses will resume on Sunday, although some parish churches are without windows, there are frequent power blackouts and many of the parishioners are evacuees. “But we want to start anew with a renewed faith”, the bishop repeated.
The US Bishops have activated a dedicated website for donations and offerings: https://catholiccharitiesusa.org/
