Related Articles
CHRISTIAN communities in Spain have mobilised support and counselling for victims of last week’s devastating floods around Valencia, as efforts continued to assess the damage and the number of fatalities.
“In times of such great difficulty, tensions manifest themselves — yet at such moments, we must give a testimony of unity, since only by working together can we serve the poorest and neediest,” the Archbishop of Valencia, the Rt Revd Enrique Benavent Vidal, said on Monday.
“People have lost everything, including loved ones, and we must ensure they obtain a helping hand from us and never feel alone or abandoned. . . By working together in a spirit of collaboration and openness, and seeking what is best for all, we may still be able to build a more just and better society.”
The message was published as the Archbishop toured affected areas, including the flood epicentre in Paiporta, where at least 100 died, and the RC parishes of La Torre and Catarroja, both now serving as logistical aid centres.
The Revd Paul Dean, the lead chaplain of the region’s Anglican Holy Spirit chaplaincy, the diocese in Europe’s largest, said that he had visited a man whose two brothers had drowned, and whose father was still missing, and had heard other “terrible stories” emerging from the disaster.
“We are south of the main affected areas; so we’ve thankfully escaped any direct impact, but this has severely affected our congregations and been absolutely devastating for Spain as a whole,” Fr Dean told the Church Times this week.
“There’s been a great outpouring of support within our own expatriate community, with various groups collecting clothing, foodstuffs, and other supplies for the people of Valencia within a day of the main floods.”
Flash inundations caused by torrential rain hit the southern outskirts of Valencia on the night of 29-30 October, leaving at least 220 dead in Europe’s most lethal flood for six decades.
Messages of sympathy came from world leaders, including the Pope, who pledged closeness with Spaniards “at a time of catastrophe”, and urged people at his weekly audience in Rome on Sunday to think of how they could best help.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Anglican Archdeacon of Gibraltar, Italy, and Malta, the Ven. David Waller, said that many people had seen their lives “shattered” by the floods, and that Anglicans would join the Church of England’s Torrevieja and Costa Blanca chaplaincies in praying for bereaved families, as well as for “the local authorities and their people as they cope with this natural disaster”.
As hundreds remained missing in the middle of this week, media reported that several historic churches, as well as a newly opened Evangelical chapel at Alfafar, had been badly damaged by the water.
Other churches were being used to store supplies for flood-affected areas, many of which remained without electricity and telephone links. Priests and nuns were seen helping to clear up the streets.
The Valencia diocese’s Moncada seminary and San Vicente Ferrer college were accommodating some of the 15,000 troops, firefighters, and rescue workers deployed across the region.
The Rector of Madre de la Iglesia, Catarroja, the Revd José Vicente Alberola, said that volunteers had come from various churches to help to distribute aid and “clear rubble from private homes”. He was particularly concerned about protecting the elderly and bringing medication to the sick.
The Priest-in-Charge of the La Anunciación, Aldaia, Fr Francisco Furió, said that his town had been “a victim of neglect” and received little state assistance. Basic needs would grow in the weeks ahead, amid the “devastation” caused to homes, businesses, and public buildings, he said.
“We appreciate the solidarity of people supplying us with food and clothing, which are so necessary now; but we must be aware that problems will multiply when people who’ve lost everything have to buy the essentials for living,” the priest told Valencia’s La Provincias daily on Monday.
“This is why financial collaboration through Caritas is also necessary, and must keep going when no one remembers us.”
The RC Caritas organisation has been helping to co-ordinate incoming aid, and will assist a nationwide Spanish church collection for flood victims this Sunday. In a statement on its website, the charity said that municipalities in Cuenca, Málaga, and Cádiz had also “suffered significant damage” from the floods. It was also providing “psychological support and accompaniment” to people who had “lost everything”.
In a message on X this week, the President of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Luis Argüello of Valladolid, said that “indignation” among the people affected by the floods was understandable.
He said, however, that the “enormous pain” felt by victims could not “justify violence”, and he “unequivocally condemned” angry protests that erupted on Sunday, when King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia were pelted with mud and shouted at while visiting Paiporta with the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, and the Governor of Valencia, Carlos Mazon.
In his Church Times interview, Fr Dean said that images of the royals “having to be covered by umbrellas, amid chaos and mayhem” sparked by outrage at the late warnings and slow official responses had “not helped” recovery efforts.
“Although I think the anger will subside, it’s still very raw right now, especially while the weather remains foul and there are still fears of some further deluge,” said the priest, whose chaplaincy includes seven churches and worship centres, served by three stipendiary clergy, between Valencia and Alicante.
“Whenever a disaster like this happens, however, the goodness of humanity always comes out. We should be grateful for the community spirit and willingness to help others which reflects gospel principles and has been so prominent over recent days.”
In a message this week, the Area Dean of Southern Spain and Gibraltar, the Revd Louis Darrant, urged Anglicans to give “practical expression to their prayers” by supporting an emergency fund, “Age in Spain”, of which details are given on the diocese in Europe’s website.
“Many of our churches across Spain held services for All Souls’ to remember the departed,” Fr Darrant said.
“We stand in prayerful solidarity with all affected by this terrible tragedy and give thanks for the resources of those who have responded with great courage and compassion.”
