Dominicans address Venezuela after earthquake: June 29, 2026

Dominicans respond to Venezuela Earthquake. Fr. Angel emphasizes that the Dominican response must include prayer. “It is fundamental to pray for our people and to pray with our people,” fr. Angel writes. Prayer, he says, opens believers to the possibilities of God in themselves and in others, especially when human vulnerability and incapacity are most evident.

Dominicans address Venezuela after earthquake

Following the devastating earthquakes that struck Venezuela on 24 June, fr. Angel Villasmil, OP, Vicar Provincial of Venezuela, has addressed a pastoral appeal to the Dominican family, calling them to faith, prayer, concrete charity and renewed hope in the Gospel.

ROME — In the aftermath of the two earthquakes that struck Venezuela on the afternoon of 24 June, the Vicariate of Venezuela of the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary has issued a message to the members of the Dominican family, parishes, educational institutions and places of mission entrusted to the brothers and sisters of the Order.

The appeal, signed by fr. Angel Villasmil, OP, Vicar Provincial , begins with the question that rises naturally from the heart of believers in the face of suffering: “Where is God?”

Fr. Angel writes that this question is not foreign to faith. It is the cry of the psalms, of Job, of Gideon, and even of Christ on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Far from being a cry of despair, he explains, the prayer of Jesus is born from his filial relationship with the Father and leads finally to trust: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

For this reason, the tragedy now being lived by the Venezuelan people becomes a moment not only for solidarity, but also for a renewed examination of faith. “As Venezuelans live this great trial of our faith,” fr. Angel writes, “we are called to look to the great men and women of the Bible, especially to the faith of Abraham, who hoped against hope.”

In the message, the Vicar Provincial distinguishes between optimism and Christian hope. Optimism, he notes, often depends on visible positive signs. Hope, by contrast, is founded on the promise of God. For this reason, even in catastrophe, Christians can “maintain hope, rekindle it, and make it a way of being and a way of living.”

The appeal also asks what the Venezuelan people expect from Dominicans and from all believers in this moment of suffering. Many, fr. Angel writes, rightly expect material help. Such help is not only a matter of charity, but also of justice, “the social form of charity.” Quoting Benedict XVI’s Caritas in veritate, he recalls that charity never lacks justice, because justice gives to the other what is due.

Yet the Venezuelan people, he continues, expect something more: that Christians truly be men and women of faith, capable of sustaining hope in the midst of tragedy.

“They expect us to be men and women of the Gospel,” fr. Angel writes, “who believe deeply in it, preach it and live it.” He points to Christ the Good Samaritan, who draws near to every person suffering in body or spirit and heals wounds “with the oil of consolation and the wine of hope.”

Fr. Angel emphasizes that the Dominican response must include prayer. “It is fundamental to pray for our people and to pray with our people,” fr. Angel writes. Prayer, he says, opens believers to the possibilities of God in themselves and in others, especially when human vulnerability and incapacity are most evident.

In a particular way, the Vicar Provincial invites the Dominican family to turn to the rosary, “the prayer of the people.” In this moment of national suffering, he writes, the rosary can become a prayer of accompaniment for the victims and a means of illuminating, through faith, an experience that will take years to receive with peace.

“The wounds of a natural catastrophe remain in the consciousness of persons,” fr. Angel writes. “We have a great challenge before us, a challenge we will assume from the experience of faith and from conviction in the Gospel.”

The Order of Preachers joins the Dominican family in Venezuela in prayer for all those who have died, for the injured, for those who have lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods, and for all who are working to bring consolation, justice and hope to the suffering.

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