At least 66 people died in the torrential rain and floods happened in the southern and eastern areas of Spain. The Catholic Church has expressed its pain and condolences over the tragedy and Caritas has launched a special campaign.
The flash flooding is considered the third largest natural disaster in Spain’s contemporary history, which has primarily hit the territories of the Archdiocese of Valencia and the Dioceses of Cuenca and Albacete.
Only the 1996 flood in the town of Biescas in the Pyrenees, with 89 deaths, and the 1957 flooding of the Turia River, in which between an estimated 80 and 100 lives were lost, exceed the death toll confirmed to date.
The archbishop of Valencia, Enrique Benavent, celebrated a Eucharist on Wednesday morning in the Basilica of the Our Lady of the Abandoned, the city’s patroness. During the homily, the prelate pointed out that “those most affected are those we must keep closest to our hearts, just as those who suffer the most are those who are closest to a mother’s heart.”
Benavent also asked “everyone to pray before the Blessed Virgin Mary, first of all, for those who have lost their lives in this great tragedy” and asked that their families and all those who have been affected be remembered.
Hundreds of people were forced to sleep outdoors after being caught in the great torrents of water while travelling in their private vehicles yesterday afternoon. The homes of many others were flooded and their vehicles were swept away in the midst of a powerful storm that at times was like a hurricane.
The Archdiocese of Valencia, which had made its facilities and resources available to citizens on Tuesday afternoon, found it was unable to meet all the needs it wanted to.
“The parishes have also been affected, but to the extent of our possibilities we must keep in mind all those who suffer, that they feel in us a helping hand, a brotherly hand, who knows how to feel compassion for them and who knows how to be attentive to their needs,” Benavent explained.
Regarding those who have temporarily been left without a roof over their heads, the archbishop expressed his hope that “they may find in the Church, in Christians, a helping hand from brothers and a helping hand from friends. In this way, we will also show that we are children of the Virgin of the Abandoned.”
Area diocesan Caritas have contacted the Archdiocese of Valencia to offer their services, as confirmed to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, by Marisa Villaroig, head of Caritas in the Diocese of Segorbe-Castellón.