‘We will rise with him,’ Venezuelan bishop says as Catholic nonprofits mobilize relief efforts

Auxiliary Bishop Carlos Márquez of Caracas, Venezuela, this week underscored the Church’s commitment “to be with people” as Venezuela recovers from earthquakes.

“First of all, we are committed to being with people,” Márquez told “EWTN News In Depth” on July 10. “Bishops and priests and deacons and religious personnel of all different congregations, we are on the street talking to people, conveying hope, and giving them consolation from all the pain and distress that they are suffering.”

“We accompany the pain of our people,” he said. “We don’t leave them alone.”

Márquez said that in Caracas, where he serves, around 20 to 25 churches and parish houses have been destroyed. While he said Caracas has seen “a lot of damage in many buildings,” the more heavily affected area is La Guajira.

“La Guajira is the poor diocese of Venezuela,” he said. “It’s the sister diocese of Caracas. La Guajira was hit really, really bad and they have much, much more damage than we suffer here.”

“Though we’ve been hit by nature, we don’t lose our hope because our hope is set on Christ the Lord, and he had victory over death and destruction, and we know that we join him in this pain,” Márquez…