(OSV News) \u2013 Catholic leaders and organizations in the U.S. continue to aid Venezuela as that nation recovers from two deadly earthquakes that struck seconds apart June 24.<\/p>\n
Brittany Wichtendahl, a spokesperson for Catholic Relief Services \u2014 the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops\u2019 official overseas humanitarian and development agency \u2014 told OSV News July 8 her agency is \u201cworking extremely closely\u201d with its in-country partner Caritas Venezuela.<\/p>\n
Both organizations are part of Caritas Internationalis, the universal Catholic Church\u2019s global humanitarian network.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/7-9-26-venezuela-priest-blessing-300x200.jpg\")
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. Two catastrophic earthquakes hit Venezuela in quick succession June 24, leaving at least 3,500 dead, which experts say is a major undercount. (OSV News photo\/Adriano Machado, Reuters)<\/p>\n
Wichtendahl confirmed that a CRS \u201cearthquake response support team is now fully deployed\u201d in Venezuela. \u201cCRS-supported distributions began last week and so far, we\u2019ve handed out more than 1,800 emergency food kits, 850 family hygiene kits and 400 baby hygiene kits,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
In a June 25 statement, Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the USCCB\u2019s. Committee on International Justice and Peace, pointed to the \u201csignificant loss of life and severe destruction\u201d resulting from the disaster.<\/p>\n
At least 3,500 were killed during the 7.2 and 7.5 quakes, which took place just 39 seconds apart.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs rescue efforts are underway, I urge the international community to mobilize in support of the Venezuelan people, and to send the necessary humanitarian assistance to alleviate their suffering,\u201d said Bishop Zaidan, shepherd of the St. Louis-based Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Rescue and recovery efforts have been hampered by existing long-running crises in Venezuela. Home to the world\u2019s largest oil deposits, the Latin American nation has been plagued for years by authoritarianism, human rights abuses, endemic corruption and economic collapse.<\/p>\n
In a situation update posted to its website, CRS noted that prior to the two earthquakes, \u201can estimated 7.9 million people were already in need of assistance due to years of economic crisis, food insecurity and weakened public services.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her remarks to OSV July 8, Wichtendahl said CRS has to date sent more than 1,600 tarpaulins for shelter support, while already developing \u201cplans for long-term recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far, \u201cCaritas Venezuela has handed out 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Caritas Venezuela has supplied \u201cmore than 870 tools\u201d for search and rescue teams, she added.<\/p>\n
As they dig through the rubble, often with bare hands, many Venezuelans are now expressing anger at Venezuelan leader Delcy Rodr\u00edguez. The former vice president ascended to power following the U.S.\u2019s January capture of then-leader President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, now in New York facing trial for narcoterrorism and other federal charges.<\/p>\n
In his message, Bishop Zaidan thanked the U.S. government for its \u201cpartnership in responding to this natural disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n
On June 29, the State Department announced an increase in its funding for post-quake humanitarian needs, bringing the total to \u201cmore than $300 million,\u201d according to an official statement.<\/p>\n
Total funding for State Department partner organizations responding to the disaster \u2014 including CRS and other faith-based groups \u2014 is now at $200 million, said the statement.<\/p>\n
CRS has also organized a donation effort through its website, with contributions accepted by phone, mail and multiple online payment platforms, among them Venmo.<\/p>\n
Bishop Zaidan called upon the faithful to pray for divine assistance in helping Venezuelans.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet us all join in prayer that Our Lady of Coromoto, patroness of Venezuela, will comfort and protect her children and that compassionate international assistance will arrive swiftly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(OSV News) \u2013 Catholic leaders and organizations in the U.S. continue to aid Venezuela as that nation recovers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":239535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-239534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}